On the heels of their first two consecutive wins in this year’s Serie A championship, Juventus has arrived at the November break with a 9-point gap from league co-leaders Inter and Fiorentina.
The standings are far below expectations, especially after management invested handsomely in highly skilled players with world-class prospects the likes of Alex Sandro and Paulo Dybala, who rounded out a team that has well-oiled mechanisms in the two formations that Allegri used last season: namely a 3-5-2 adapted/adopted from his predecessor Antonio Conte and Allegri’s own brand, the 4-3-1-2 formation.
The departure of major actors in Allegri’s chessboard threw a wrench into his plans, and saw the man from Livorno try an imbalanced, chameleonic 3-5-2-come-4-3-3 formation that keys heavily on Cuadrado’s form and the ability of his adversaries to foresee Allegri’s tactics.
At the quarter mark of this season, Juventus is still forming. One thing that was highlighted in our piece “Code Red for Juventus: Ills and Cures” was that Allegri needs to stick to what works (not experiments) and get results. Since then, Allegri stuck to a 4-3-1-2 (which turned into a “Christmas Tree” formation at times) and produced two wins and a draw away to Borussia Monchengladbach – a game that was compromised by an episode: Hernanes’ direct red card. Admittedly, Juventus squeezed out two wins that could have been two draws on account of the poor game play. However, for now, this is exactly what the doctor ordered: WINS and that’s it.
With Pereyra’s return, and barring further injuries to Lichtsteiner, Khedira and Marchisio, a well-oiled 4-3-1-2 can be employed once again. The old formation should be the winning formula to regaining positions in the league to then chip away points to achieve Marotta’s stated minimum objective: third place.
What about Cuadrado? The Colombian is Juve’s most dangerous player: to Juve itself. Allegri’s greatest challenge continues to find a spot for him on the chessboard that exalts his qualities without compromising tactical balance, order, and good game play.
Far be it for us to provide a professional like Allegri with tactical solutions, but for argument’s sake, here are some possible (plausible?) solutions for the Tuscan may be to fit him as a trequartista:
- Wide alongside another in a 2-1, OR
- Behind the strikers à la Pereyra OR
- Try a 4231, with Marchisio and Khedira behind Alex Sandro on the left, Dybala in the centre and Cuadrado wide, supporting Mandzukic or Morata. But as I said, time for experiments is over.
We’re left with the distinct impression that Allegri hasn’t had what Italians call his svolta tattica, a tactical “Eurika” moment that made them discover the formation the combination that would make their team tick all year long. Conte experienced this in Napoli-Juventus of 2011-12 when he mirrored Mazzarri’s 3-5-2 and made it his own. Last year, Allegri was forced to try a 4-3-1-2 when hosting Olympiakos, which added an important weapon to his tactical arsenal.
Allegri hasn’t had his Epiphany yet, will it happen before the Magi arrive?
The post Waiting for Allegri’s Eurika Moment appeared first on IFD.
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