Del Piero – the end of a legacy

Last month, Juventus made public their intention of not renewing veteran striker Alessandro Del Piero’s contract when it expires next June.

The decision was unexpected but the Bianconeri diehards knew it had to come one day.

Del Piero has now reached a veteran age. He will turn 37 this month. That, perhaps, led Juve to take the bold step. However, the way the news was leaked to the media, without the captain’s knowledge, may not have been the best way how the ‘Old Lady’ had handled the matter.

Del Piero joined Juventus from Padova in 1993 and stayed loyal ever since.

He won practically everything at stake including the scudetto five times, the Champions League, the Coppa Italia and the Intercontinental Cup.

Contrary to other high-profile players, the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Patrick Vieira, Gianluca Zambrotta, Fabio Cannavaro and Emerson, Del Piero never even contemplated the idea of leaving when Juventus were demoted to Serie B in 2006 as a result of the match-fixing scandal.

His choice to stay takes even more significance considering Del Piero had just helped Italy win the World Cup in Germany that same summer.

Many think Del Piero deserves far better treatment from the club he devotedly loved for 18 years.

Surely, one would have expected Juve to hold an official press conference to explain the situation and, perhaps, what could lie in store for Del Piero now that his playing days seem to be numbered.

But the club bosses deemed otherwise and now they will have to bear the brunt of their disil-lusioned fans most of whom felt there was no rush to announce that Del Piero will not wear the Juve colours next season.

Del Piero represented one of the final legacies between the ‘old’ (the pre-2006 era) and the ‘new’ Juventus now under new management and playing at a state-of-the-art stadium of their own.

The main feature of the ‘new’ Juventus is that the club is once again run by the Agnellis after a number of years in which they had delegated the task to non-family members – Luciano Moggi, Antonio Giraudo and Roberto Bettega.

This season, coach Antonio Conte, a former Del Piero team-mate, has more than once utilised the veteran striker as a very late substitute.

For instance, in Juve’s 2-2 home draw with Genoa, Del Piero was introduced in the 90th minute and in the 2-1 away win away at Inter he replaced Mirko Vucinic six minutes from time.

Usually, untested youngsters are the ones coming in as late substitutes and not players of Del Piero’s calibre.

Strange, but it could be that Conte is merely executing orders from someone high up at the club or else he is of the opinion that Vucinic and the other strikers in the team are better and more reliable than Del Piero.

Pity all this is happening when Juve are being touted among the title favourites at home after a long period without a title.

Conte has infused fresh hope and enthusiasm in his players and the team is brimming with confidence. They are still unbeaten and if Juve win their game in hand against Napoli (November 29) they will go top again.

Yet, they cannot continue to discard Del Piero this way.

He’s fit and rich in talent. Besides, Pinturicchio carries bags of experience that very few other players in the Serie A have.

Those wanting him out should think twice before persisting in their stance to deny him more time on the pitch.