Juve stars’ £80m cuts
occasionally but ultimately it’s down to them. Griffiths is a bit of an enigma – but he’s a goalscorer and always a threat.
“I like the 3- 5-2 formation – I like it because it works. But you have to roll the dice sometimes and it wasn’t simply a case of saying: ‘ We’ll give 3-5-2 a go today.’
“We put a lot of work into it.
“It was in my mind as I felt we were starting to look a bit stale – plus I like playing with two strikers.
“We can always go back to a four though.”
The 48- year- old’s managerial career hit a 10- year landmark last week as he was first handed the Celtic reins on a caretaker basis on March 25, 2010. The day before, a 4- 0 defeat by St Mirren had spelled the end of Tony Mowbray’s ill-fated stint in the hotseat. Lennon went on to land five trophies in his first spell as Hoops gaffer, followed by a clean sweep of domestic competitions since returning to the role just over a year ago.
The Northern Irishman admits a tutorial from Italian boss Antonio Conte’s tactical school has reinforced his belief that 3-5-2 is the way to go.
He said: “I like the formation. I used to watch Antonio Conte’s teams a lot and they always used it. We played against his Juventus side in the Champions League when they beat us.
“Bayer Leverkusen also played a back three at Ibrox a few weeks ago which was interesting in – it’s not all 4-3-3 nowadays. n
“I think Brendan Rodgers had h it in mindnd to p l a y Odsonne O with th
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“The lads had ad tried t it a few w t imes under er Brendan B so that at entered e into my thinking.” t
Lennon’s dutyty oof care towardsds GGriff iths as thehe ScotlandS starar battled back from personalal issues was rewarded by a return to top form before thee shutdown. It provided thee Hoops gaffer with options ass well as bringing out the bestt in Edouard.
He said: “We’ve just had too be patient with Leigh whilee he had to knuckle down andd show the right desire.
“I believe there’s more stilll
Cristiano Ronaldo and his Juventus team-mates will waive four months’ wages in what is set to be an £80million boost to the club.
The Serie A leaders said players and boss Maurizio Sarri agreed to a reduction in pay “equal to the monthly payments of March, April, May and June 2020” amid the coronavirus pandemic.
If remaining games are rescheduled, Juve said they would negotiate increases in pay for the squad.