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

Importance of Tevez at the center of the attack

Tevez has done well in his debut season in Italy

Tevez is the more important player of the two of them. He could not score a goal in all of the 6 games in the group stages of the Champions League which really effected Juventus a lot. Tevez was pretty mediocre by his own standards in all the group games. But, he lacked the support in attack in the first two games and was employed on the flanks in the two games against Real Madrid. If Tevez is used at the center, his contribution to the game is more.

He can bring his marker further up the field or take them wider disrupting the defensive organization of the opponents for the likes of Vidal to get into goal scoring positions. Its Tevez’s ability to bring his team mates into play that is admirable. He is a very tough attacker to mark as his work rate is very high and he is a player who does not stand idle. Carlitos has also been ruthless in front of goal and is second among st the top goal scorers in Italy.

Tevez’s tendency to drop deeper and get involved when the team is struggling to keep hold of possession is also another reason to employ him in the center. Clearly, a 4-3-3 would put Tevez in a position where he does not thrive that much also making it a necessity to buy a winger on the other flank.

If Juventus are to shift to a 4-3-3 with Tevez as a lone striker then Juventus need to invest in the market for two wingers and bench Llorente. Why would anyone bench Llorente when he is such an asset as a target man in the attack? Clearly, Conte is left with no choice but to employ both of them in the center of the attack.

The 3-5-2 problem-High Tempo

Defensive organization

The 3-5-2 approach of Conte is a very good approach against teams who play patiently and employ a slow tempo system. The concern with this approach of his is against teams employing a high tempo, high pressing system. Teams such as Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich clearly demonstrated it in the Champions League last year with Juventus losing to one of them in the quarter-finals of the esteemed competition.

Loss against the Viola and a draw against Hellas Verona also illustrated the drawback of Conte’s approach. The problem when Juventus counter against such opponents is that the opposition give lesser time for the Juve players to hold onto the ball and press higher up the pitch forcing them to make a mistake or two.

When Juventus have the ball, the distance between Bonucci and his other two compatriots is very large understandably as Juve like to pass the ball from the back. When the Bianconeri lose the ball, Chiellini and Barzagli need to quickly organize themselves and shift back to center and not leave Bonucci isolated.

When one of Chiellini and Barzagli fail to do so, Bonucci is left alone to deal with the situation. As Barzagli and Chiellini are stretched away from Bonucci, it gives them less time and more ground to cover regardless of where the ball is. When Juve play against opponents with a slow tempo, their opponents pass the ball around giving more time for the Bianconeri back line to organize themselves.

Issue on the flanks

Montella changed his formation in the second half and overloaded his flanks

The responsibility of the players on the flank is immense in every regard. They need to run forward assisting the attack and track back assisting the defense. When Juventus come across a team that uses 4 players defensively and in the attack, it becomes tougher for the likes of Asamoah and Lichtsteiner to man mark their opponents using 2 players on each of their flanks.

Fiorentina did exactly that after they replaced Aquilani with Jaoquin and shifted to a 4 man midfield playing Jaoquin and Cuadrado on either flanks. As soon as Juventus lost the ball, Cuadrado and Jaoquin found themselves in acres of space against the back 3 of Juve.

One might probably question the credibility of the center midfielders in this regard but if you look at the roles of the 3 players playing at the center of the midfield, they are very different. Vidal is clearly not responsible for stopping a counter attack as he is required to close down his opponent faster, win back position and find himself in goal scoring positions. Pogba or Marchisio are to try playing key effective passes linking the midfield and attack, in the final third. Pirlo is too slow in his deep lying play maker role to stop this from happening.

Notably, the chemistry of not just the back 3 is important here but the co-ordination of the back 3 with the whole of midfield is essential under these circumstances. Even with a lot of practice week in and week out nullifying this, it is really difficult to get it right during the match. There is just too much chemistry between players that is needed to annul this problem.