“He wasn’t injured” – Thiago Motta reveals why he hauled off Vlahovic at half-time | OneFootball

Juventus coach Thiago Motta explained that removing Dusan Vlahovic at halftime against Napoli was purely technical.

The Serbian has only managed to score twice since the start of the season, bagging a brace against Hellas Verona in the second round of the Serie A season.

Since then, he has been enduring a torrid time in front of goal, and it was the case yet again in Saturday’s goalless draw against Napoli.

So after a disappointing showing in the first half, Vlahovic was nowhere to be seen after the interval. Motta decided to replace him with Timothy Weah, even though the latter is a winger by trade.

After the contest, the Juventus manager admitted it was a technical decision, while trying to ease the situation with a few pleasant words regarding the striker’s performance.

“Dusan was fine, he wasn’t injured,” said the 42-year-old in his post-match interview with DAZN via IlBianconero.

“He had a good first half, he helped the team by looking for depth even though we couldn’t really reach deep positions.

“Tim came in well, we played well, we managed to reach the last meters, and there we have to improve.”

Moreover, Motta admitted he wasn’t pleased with the final result, as his team must always seek victory.

“We have to win more matches and do better. We found strong teams that played. We did okay too, but we can’t be happy with the result.

“We must always aim to win. We managed to pin back Napoli, but we must improve in the final third.”