It would be interesting to see a 3-5-2 with Marchisio, Matuidi, and Pjanic in midfield. With that said, this 4-2-3-1 nearly won Juve the treble last year. I can't wait to see what this team looks like after the break. The potential for this team is absolutely there. Heck, yesterday their bench consisted of Marchisio, Matuidi, Bentancur, Mandzu with Chiellini, Licht, Howedes out. The depth in the team will play a huge role down the stretch.
Exactly. The only thing that separates Juve from 1st are a few instances despite what has been a very uncharacteristically leaky defense. The downfall of last year's team was the lack of depth in midfield and attack. The players looked exhausted by the end. This year Allegri has mixed and matched a great deal which has played a role in a few lost points. After two CL finals and 3 doubles, you would think he would get the benefit of the doubt. Again, Juve and Napoli have just about the same record in all comps. Yet one team is heavily criticized even after 6 league titles while the other is Italy's darling. This squad may not make it back to the CL final (luck plays a huge role), but it has the potential to surpass last year's team in terms of quality.
Wow, criticism from folks who have never coached before. Some of you are over reading the comment. Surprisingly, we looked best at the end with four central midfielders. Bentacur, Matuidi & Marchisio helped increase pressure on Barcelona and we had better chances created. The 4-2-3-1 looked good last season when Alves was playing well. He helped shore up the midfield defensively along with Mandzukic. This is not happening with Cuadrado, Bernardeschi & Douglas Costa on the wings.When either of our two central midfielder push up, we become vulnerable to counters. Worse when it is both. We either go with a 3-man midfield or a 4-man with wingers.
A 4 man midfield of Marchisio, Pjanic, Matuidi, and Bentancur would not be bad at all, but our team is filled with wingers so I only see us changing to a winger based formation.
Yesterday, Sandro and Cuadrado were basically wingers with Costa and Dybala playing as inside forwards. I too would love to see 3 Cms with Costa in place of Sandro in a 3-5-2 that shifts into a 4-3-3. Sandro has been poor this season while Costa looks more dangerous when isolated out wide. He often beats his man 1v1 while usually making great decisions in the final 3rd. Plus, it looks like Costa's crossing has been superior to Sandro lately. Another option would be to return to a 4-3-1-2 with Mandzu and Higuain in front of Dybala.
Costa litterally dribbled past so many of those guys, he would switch from being on the left side of the pitch to the right side. The future looks very promising with him. He should be starting in place of Juan every match for now on. But we all know that wont happen.
We have to accept that we wont see 90 minutes out of Claudio probaly ever again. Him playing the magority of a game would probaly result in him being shut down for a week, that means no practicing. We should just be grateful for when he sees the field because it very well could be his last season, he may take a graceful exit with Gigi at the end of the season.
We can pretend that Sandro is a fullback. Costa is not even close. Sandro got beaten easily a few too many times yesterday. He did better in the 3-5-2 where marking was not as critical. Same goes for Asamoah. We have many options using a trident attack. My preference would be two supporting strikers behind Higuain or Mandzukic. Mario could play in that support role as well, which includes Bernardeschi, Costa and Pjaca. Play them so that they can both play wide and central. Makes it difficult to defend. With Howedes coming into the mold, I would like a 3-4-3 set up.
I see PSG and Man City as the front runners for a CL final... with Real and Spurs as the 2nd favorites to get into that match. We need somone who will score goals consistently on this team and that person has not established them selfs, I really would like to see Paulo slotted in Gonzalos spot since that is where he started out with Juve and banged 22 goals in.( yes i know he wasnt alone). If we are honest, there is a good bit of evidence for regression in Gonzalos game, his shots are becoming more common to be off target or weak saves for the keeper, he is struggling to beat his man when he has the ball at his feet, his first touch is really heavy, and his yelling/pouting at team mates is concerning.
A 3-5-2 can be deployed using the same individuals as a 4-3-3 with a defensive outside back. The distinct similarity is that there is a 3 man midfield. It all depends on whether the winger defends as a wingback with the defensive outside back tucking in to form a back three. As we know, Allegri has used Barzagli like this. Pep uses Costa as a winger/wingback hybrid since he is do good in 1v1 when isolated.
Yeah it seems like a waste of a spot to put both Sandro and Costa on the same flank. They both want to do similar things in attack but Costa is better at them. Sandro is a better defender, but he hasn't been great in defense this year so I agree I would like to see Costa on the flank in either a 3-5-2, 3-4-3 or 4-3-3. In a 3-4-3 we could play 4 cms like we did at the end yesterday or a wingback on the right that can drop in if he wants Cuadrado on the right. He does add pace over there and will track back. In the 4-3-1-2 you would end up with 2 playmakers in the middle with Pjanic and Dybala with Marchisio also being good on the ball out there also, but that would put Costa, Cuadrado and Berna out to pasture most of the time, and we spent a lot of money on "winger" types, so I think that is unlikely. I suppose we could also try a Christmas tree with both Costa/Berna and Dybala pivoting off of Higgy/Mandzu too, but I like Costa on the flank where he can operate. But in at any rate we need more help in the CM area. e have given up too many goals from that area with guys failing to close people down or tracking runners.
There's no specific formation that we must play to ensure success. Max needs to employ the formation that gives us the best chance of success. As others have noted, Max has been reluctant to go away from the 4-2-3-1 given the success we had with it last year; however, it's clearly not working this season as we look far too vulnerable defensively. Whether we go to a 3-man backline or 3 in the center of the midfield, something has to be done to ensure our defensive integrity so we are not leaking goals the way we did last week and on multiple occasions this season. The two men in the MF, particularly when one is Khedira, isn't cutting it. I have read multiple criticisms of Max, some of which are fair. However, we owe him the benefit of the doubt. He has shown the ability to right the ship in the second half of the season. I hold out hope that he'll do the same this season.
The fact that the team changes so much every year also doesn't allow consistency. It's not exactly a fault of Max.
I agree but to be fair this year it is Allegri's fault as he had problems with Bonucci and Dani Alves.
That is one way to look at it. You could also say they had problems with Max and didn't like being told what to do and when they screweled up.
That is a good point aswell. But imo Max needs to work on his relationship with the player as he's fallen out with quite a few thus far. Tho I agree with management choosing him over Bonucci.
Agreed. Last summer it was Max or the 2 malcontents. The club, appropriately, chose Max. Now it is MAX who is on the clock. He can't pull that again and get away with it.
What relationship problems does Max have? He is the coach first of all. With that comes responsibility and leadership. He is not there to be buddies with the players. Those who have done so have failed. Has he forced players off the team as did Conte? He finds ways to make use of the talents before him instead of trying to force players into a system he wants. What more can one ask from a coach?
I think Alves' problem was the club itself, not Max. The whole way the club was run did not please Alves at all. I could tell by the things he said. However Bonucci likely fell out with Max himself for some odd reason. I am still curious why, but there definitely was a few suspicious things going on between the two.
Alves problem was Alves. He did not appreciate the professional atmosphere at Juve. That is not a club problem. Bonucci is also himself. Look at his current form. Is Allegri to blame for that?