Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic irritated Emanuele Giaccherini with the way he conducted himself on the pitch.
The Bianconeri suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Atalanta who put four unanswered goals past Michele Di Gregorio who had to bring his A-game to prevent a bigger massacre. This was the club’s worst home defeat in Serie A since 1967.
So while this shocking failure lies first and foremost on the collective, the attitude of some players has been put under scrutiny once more, and chief among them Vlahovic.
The Serbian has lost his starting berth since the arrival of Randal Kolo Muani in January, and aside from his winner in Cagliari, he had done little to warrant a return to the lineup. Nevertheless, Thiago Motta introduced the 25-year-old as his fifth and last substitution on Sunday.
With the scoreboard already showing 3-0 at that point, this was obviously nothing more than a “Hail Mary” on the manager’s part. But while most of us weren’t expecting Vlahovic to score, few would have imagined he’d end up causing a fourth goal for Atalanta.
The former Fiorentina man slipped to the ground while attempting a pass, allowing La Dea to swiftly surge forward and deliver one more blow to the carcass.
For his part, Giacherini was absolutely livid with the Serbian international, berating the attitude he donned while entering the pitch.
“Vlahovic entered with this attitude, as if he was almost doing the team a favor,” said the former Juventus and Cesena winger during his appearance on DAZN via Calciomercato.
Back in his heyday, Giaccherini wasn’t the club’s biggest star, but was a hardworking player capable of filling several roles. The Italian was always happy to contribute to the cause regardless of the playing position or the amount of minutes, which explains his frustration with Vlahovic and the rest of the current crop.
