Juventus’s 3-5-2: To stay with it or to replace it?

The 3-5-2 is here to stay

The 3-d wall

The wall of Juventus

In the Conte era, Juventus play a very slow tempo football from the back. Everyone has noticed that this team employs 3 center backs, 3 center midfielders and 2 center forwards. It is clear that the team plays through the center. The combination of Barzagli, Bonucci and Chiellini has been present for over a year at the defense.

With Barzagli and Chiellini on his side, Bonucci has massively improved under Conte. With a combined total of 115 interceptions and 110 successful tackles in the league alone, this defense is very solid. Bayern Munich playing with 4 defenders have posted a similar total. While the likes of Barcelona, Madrid, Man City, Roma and Chelsea fair better in these statistics fielding 4 defenders but they have also given more fouls in comparison to Juventus.

Obviously, it would not be right to compare a 3 man defense to a 4 man defense but despite playing in the center making that many interceptions and successful tackles is really impressive. It exactly shows where the Juve defense stands compared to rest of Europe. This defensive combination is one of the best defensive combinations in the world, if not the best. It would be wrong to disturb this chemistry and shift to a formation having 4 defenders.

The Fantastic four

Quality at the center of midfield

Moving on to the center of the midfield where there is no shortage of talent. Pogba has broken through for the Bianconeri this season. The midfield combination of Vidal, Pirlo and Pogba has been magnificent. Marchisio is an integral part of this squad as he has started getting back to his best and showing versatility to undertake various roles in this system.

In between the 4 of them, they have made close to 250 successful tackles, 100 interceptions on the defensive aspect while making close to 3700 successful passes with a combined accuracy of 87% in the league alone. They have 22 goals between them and have provided 13 assists. In comparison to the contribution of other center midfielders to their teams in Europe, this midfield contributes the most defensively and to the attack while falls short of only Barcelona and Bayern in the passing department. The midfield is the most significant to this team’s progress and it is safe to conclude that it will remain untouched.

The deadly duo

Tevez and Llorente remind Juventus supporters of the legendary Sivori and Charles combination

The attack was the only flaw in Conte’s first two seasons. Vucinic was the only world class player in the attack in Conte’s first two seasons. The forward line up had to definitely improve if Juventus had to be successful. The arrival of Tevez and Llorente this season has illustrated how crucial a clinical attacking combination can be.

With a combined fee of close to 13 million euros, Tevez and Llorente have already reached double figures in the league contributing 23 goals and 10 assists between them. However, this was not sufficient to send Juventus into the knock out stages of the Champions League as they managed to score only 2 between them in the group stages of the competition. Although, Llorente did struggle in the first two games of the competition and Tevez was used out of position in both the games against Real Madrid.

As time has passed by, they have grown onto become a formidable force. The game against Real Madrid illustrated Tevez’s versatility as he could play down the left flank. It also portrayed that a 4-3-3 must be employed only in emergency situations and not on a regular basis. In both the games, Juventus were not able to penetrate the attack as they have done efficiently all season. The three goals that were scored in these games originated from the flank where Ronaldo did not track back. Against teams with wingers who track back, the Bianconeri are bound to struggle.