Paulo Di Canio savages Juventus' 'DNA' after Aston Villa stalemate

Former West Ham and Sheffield Wednesday star Paolo Di Canio has savaged Juventus’ performance in their 0-0 draw with Aston Villa.

The outspoken 56-year-old, who was never too far from controversy in his playing days, now works as a pundit in Italy and gave his view of Wednesday night’s Champions League encounter at Villa Park.

Villa thought they had nicked a win when Morgan Rogers turned home a loose ball late in the game – only to see the ‘goal’ ruled out for a foul on the goalkeeper.

Di Canio, though, was more interested in what was happening at the other end of the pitch and speaking on Sky Sports Italy, via Corriere Dello Sport, the former forward did not hold back, criticising the defensiveness of Thiago Motta’s team and saying it was too much like a display produced by aMassimiliano Allegriside

He said: “Is the priority of the market a central defender? This is the demonstration that it is a more conservative mentality. We were not thinking of a futuristic game but at least of being able to see something different from the past.

“Some people now, in a philosophical way, are trying to tell us that 'no, but they press 10-12 metres further forward'. It is a team that has, as we all said, dedication, self-denial, determination, compactness and the will to sacrifice themselves in the non-possession phase.

“However, I also say that it would be a shame if that were not there now given that it is very lacking in the proactive phase. Therefore, something has already been put in place, but this was also in the DNA with Allegri, this mentality of working without the ball.

“It is a team that conserves. In fact, it scores few goals and creates very little. We are a lot of refined, but it is a team that wants to conserve and then hope to go and get a goal.”

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