Spotlight on Olof Mellberg

juventus.com
Spotlight on Olof Mellberg

The 2008/09 Juventus side is taking shape, one piece at a time. Yesterday Claudio Ranieri was able to see at what stage his team is and at the same time welcome two players who were at Euro 2008: Grygera and Mellberg. The Czech was simply returning to base, whereas it was like the first day of school for the Swedish player.

After the first Pinzolo training session with his new team mates, Mellberg held a press conference to officially introduce himself. While we wait to see his potential on the field, he already showed he knows the new set-up at Juventus very well. «I know I've joined one of the world's top teams. I've watched all the Bianconeri's games from January onwards and so I’ve gotten to know all my new team mates. At the moment I'm favourably impressed by the fans' affection. Only at the 2006 World Cup in Germany had I trained in front of so many people before».

Juventus can now count on another important piece of the puzzle in defence; on the same day that Andrade is forced to take time off again, Ranieri can start working to make the back four impenetrable, especially the central pair. And with Chiellini and Legrottaglie (the best Serie A defence duo by far in the last season) still here, plus Knezevic, Buffon can truly consider himself well protected at the back.

Mellberg is thirty years old, has an imposing physique and boasts several years of international experience between the Spanish Liga (at Racing Santander), the Premier League (six seasons at Aston Villa) and the Swedish national team (he already has 90 caps), so he has everything he needs to do well here. This was clear from his first press conference too: «Italian football has a large following in Sweden and Juventus are one of the best-loved Clubs there. Watching all those games from January onwards, I could see how many strong defenders there are here, but competition isn't a problem for me. In my career I've almost always played as a central defender, it’s the role where I feel more at ease, but sometimes I have also been employed on the right at Aston Villa».

Mellberg arrived in Pinzolo already primed about his new Club. «When I learned Juventus were interested in me back in January, I never considered joining any other club. I’ve been studying my new team ever since. I immediately felt they were very strong and the fact that they always fought as equals with the best teams will help this year in the Champions League. I have also started learning Italian. Luckily I spent three years in Spain and that helps. I can already understand several words and I'm starting to speak it too».

He'd studied the set-up a lot, but two things still surprised him on his arrival in Pinzolo: the people's affection and a young fellow countryman named Ekdal. «The people's welcome has been really incredible, I wasn't used to it. I'd seen that many fans watching a training session only at the 2006 World Cup. I didn't know Ekdal before, I met him for the first time yesterday and he made a great impression on me, both as a person and as a footballer».