Pirlo ecstatic after Juve win

Coach praises players for dominating Parma to win 4-0

MILAN:

After a stuttering, inconsistent first three months in charge, Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo believes he has finally found what he is looking for after the titleholders produced arguably their best Serie A performance under his leadership on Saturday.

Juve went into Saturday's game at Parma with six wins and six draws in 12 league games this season but barely gave their opponents a look-in as they dominated almost the entire match on the way to an emphatic 4-0 win.

Pirlo, in his first season as a coach, has repeatedly explained that his team is "under construction" as he rebuilds the side he inherited from Maurizio Sarri and it finally appears to be taking shape.

"This was the Juventus I wanted to see. We needed to win this game, and we did it well," he said, adding that his side were left frustrated by Wednesday's 1-1 draw with Atalanta. "We recovered in the best possible way."

"Slowly, we are achieving what we want. I like what we are doing when the opponents have the ball, we have good aggression, we press well and recover quickly and that is what leads you to control matches."

"The important thing is that we play with this attitude in every match, whether it be against Barcelona or against Parma," he added. "We need to dominate the matches."

Pirlo singled out striker Alvaro Morata for praise after the Spaniard scored the fourth goal late in the game.

"He's psychologically well now and when he's well he can do anything," said Pirlo.

"He was disappointed with some of the criticism after Wednesday's game but, apart from that miss (against Atalanta), he created a lot. When you move like that, the goals come eventually.”