Juventus: Possible Line-up/Formation For The 2012-2013 Season

Possible line-up/formation for this coming season:

Buffon; Bonucci – Barzagli – Chiellini; Lichtsteiner – Vidal – Pirlo – Marchisio – Asamoah; Giovinco – Matri (3-5-2)

Juventus have the best chance to retain the Scudetto in this upcoming season. Juventus have the best defence in Serie A and one of the best defenses in the world. Giorgio Chiellini leads the pack along side Andrea Barzagli and Leonardo Bonucci. These three world class defenders proved this past Serie A season that they are a force to be reckoned with. With just 20 goals conceded all season, this Juventus defense proved why they are the best.

However, the defense can’t take all the credit with veteran and legend goalkeeper Gianlugi Buffon between the posts for the Bianconero showing his critics that he is nowhere near finished as he was up to his old tricks by stopping 82% of the shots he faced this season; the best save percentage in Europe’s top 5 leagues.

Moving on to the midfield where Juventus dominated last season holding an outstanding 62% of possession in half of there games, the Juventus midfeild gave opposing teams nightmares. Andrea Pirlo “l’architetto” (The architect), the midfield leader for Juventus last season, was given this nickname because of his ability to create scoring opportunities out of nothing. Arturo Vidal, Claudio Marchisio and Stephan Lichtsteiner were last years primary choices for the Juventus XL, but this season, with the addition of Kwadwo Asamoah to the mix, adds even more depth to this already amazing Juventus midfield.

The two frontmen for Juventus this upcoming season will definitely be Sebastian Giovinco and Alessandro Matri occasionally swapping with Mirko Vucinic. Giovinco returns to the Bianconeri after 1 season away at Parma. The Atomic Ant (given this nickname because of his size) proved why Juventus should have never let him go scoring 36 goals for Parma, including a penalty in the very first game against Juventus. In the mix is Alessandro Matri and Mirko Vucinic, who will be fighting for a spot in the starting XL. Both proved last year that they are worthy, but only time will tell of who gets the actual call.

Juventus fans were promised a world class striker before the trade deadline, but with the deadline looming just days away only one man- Giuseppe Marotta- know if the fans will get that promise.

As for the ongoing, off the field issues, Juventus will be without the man who brought the dream back to life- Mr. Antonio Conte. The Juventus manager will be facing a 10 month ban after being found guilty of failing to report match fixing in the CalcioScommesse scandal.

One thing is for sure though, with or without their leader, Juventus is a forced to be reckoned with and are favourites to retain their Scudetto crown.

Written by Matteo