Kelly, starting on the left to give Cambiaso a breather, has unwittingly signed his own death warrant: time and again, La Viola tore through his flank, with Dodo leaving the Englishman looking as if he was chasing shadows. It was, no doubt, the worst performance since his arrival at Juventus. The poor chap had to limp off the pitch due to a troublesome hamstring; it’s a wonder they didn’t wrap him in cotton wool beforehand.
In the grand theatre of Italian football, where every game is a dramatic unfolding, Kelly found himself outclassed, tackled by a whirlwind of pace and skill that he simply couldn’t cope with. Each foray down the flank saw him caught in a difficult predicament, making the match seem more like a one-sided affair than a competitive contest. His struggles were perhaps magnified by the pressure of high expectations.
In the end, it’s an all-too-familiar story for the young lad, and one that raises the question of how much patience the management will have moving forward. With every touch leading to more frustration and injury concerns looming, one can only wonder what's next for Kelly in this relentless grind of Serie A.
