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

Loss of possession

Bayern’s pressing game against Juventus

Another interesting fact is our loss of possession against teams pressing us higher up the pitch. It is not that tough to pass the ball accurately when you are not under pressure, but under extreme pressure, passing the ball efficiently is very important. Bayern Munich showed the way to limit Pirlo from controlling the tempo of the game, the pressed him harder and pressed him faster. The bearded genius lacks pace to beat one opponent and easily distribute the ball.

He managed a total of 50 passes in both those Champions League games against the reigning European Champions. It is wrong to entirely blame Pirlo as for a pass to be completed there should be a player to pass the ball and a player to receive the ball. He clearly needs assistance from his team mates to get into positions which can help him pass the ball a lot easier to them.

He could not play a single successful long pass against Bayern considering their quality on the flanks and our lack of quality on the flanks and in the attack. Bonucci’s role in this team is that of a ball playing defender, which he has excelled in thus far. But, he too has failed on multiple occasions to find his teammates when Juventus faced off Bayern.

Every starting eleven player squandered possession by failing to find his team mate when put under pressure. The best way to beat Juventus is to dominate Juventus and that is by ensuring they have very less possession of the ball. Losses to Bayern and Fiorentina have illustrated that Juventus had lesser possession of the ball than their opponents.

Any other alternatives: 4-1-3-2?

Shift to a 4 man defense

Juve’s 4-1-3-2 could do well against the likes of Bayern

It is clear that the Bianconeri need to employ a 3-5-2 approach. In order to counter the problem against high pressing, high tempo opponents Juventus may need to change their approach. On slaughtering Roma 3-0, Juventus showed in the first 20 minutes that the team can sit deeper and invite their opponents to attack them instead of attacking their opponents.

This was very successful in every sense but the fact that was evident was that Roma pressed higher up the pitch, retained possession and adopted a slower tempo to attack the Turin side. Had Roma scored like Bayern early in the game or had they rigorously attacked Juventus giving no time for the team to settle, the result would have been entirely different. This is a major threat as many teams will look to employ the same approach when they face the Bianconeri.

One solution to this is shifting to a similar formation but resort to a 4-1-3-2 and employ Marchisio at the defensive midfield role. Using Chiellini and Lichtsteiner on either flanks while employing Bonucci and Barzagli at the center, not only can the Bianconeri stop the crosses from coming in but also have two men in the center dealing with any crosses that come in.

Employing Marchisio or Asamoah as a defensive midfielder, not only will Juventus succeed in retaining possession but also deal with counter attacks at any point of time. Either of Lichtsteiner and Chiellini can easily stretch the flank one at a time and assist the attack without the need for worrying against a counter attack. Chiellini did excel in this position in Conte’s first season.

Playing Llorente behind Tevez

When teams are playing higher up the pitch with a higher tempo, it is a disadvantage to them as well. If Tevez plays behind Llorente against such teams, he will not pose any problems to the opposing defense. On the other hand, this 3-5-2 may work well if Llorente plays a lot deeper and Tevez pushes further ahead, it is a great strategy.

With Tevez’s pace the likes of Pirlo and Vidal can at any given point of time play a through ball in the ground or in the air regularly not only pushing the opposing defense and their team backwards but also giving an opportunity to Tevez to score. On doing this, the players of the opposing team lose their energy, tracking backward and forward employing a high pressing game.

Football is such a game that once you score against the run of play, the level of adrenalin rises so much that it motivates your team to play a lot better. As long as Juventus continue to push their opponents deeper into their own half, the Bianconeri have no threats from their attack whatsoever.

Off the ball movement

Lichtsteiner’s eye is off the ball, Peluso and Marchisio are no where to be seen while Vidal is idle

The other strategy that needs to be employed in training is the art of moving off the ball. Off the ball movement is not necessary for only the strikers but for the midfielders as well. Every player needs to move in such a way in order to make himself free and help his team mate pass the ball to him.

Even if he is not successful in doing it always, he is always going to keep his marker busy draining a lot of energy out of him. There should be good chemistry to illustrate great short passing or tiki taka football between the players. This comes with confidence on the ball and movement into free positions closer to one’s team mate being on the ball.

A passer as Pirlo should be able to predict the movement of his team mates around him so that he can release the ball earlier in such areas when he is put under extreme pressure. If the present 3-5-2 does not support this formation, then Juventus can always shift to a 4-1-3-2 or a 4-3-1-2 acquiring and fielding the likes of Toni Kroos into the midfield to help keep the ball better and be an added incentive on the creative aspect of the game.

Conclusion

It is clear that Conte is left with no choice but to adopt the 3-5-2 on a long term basis. If he is to shift to any other formation, 4-1-3-2 would be the most ideal retaining players in the center midfield and at the heart of the attack. 9 of his players, including Gigi Buffon, are best suited at the center.

It is foolish to accuse Conte for not being flexible as he has clearly shown tactical diversity over the past two years by fielding 4-3-3 along with the 3-5-2 and adopting various approaches against top teams. Conte is definitely working on the problems with the 3-5-2. As Conte mentioned with respect to Juventus conceding a lot of goals in set pieces that it is more of a problem with focus during the game and not because of lack of tactical preparation. As long as Conte stays with us, we have nothing to fear and the 3^rd Champions League trophy is not far away.