Do you think the results will have been the same had Juventus stayed with Higuain and Dybala instead of buying CR7? I’m not discounting Ronny’s presence or what he brings to the club, on or off the field. I’m just wondering if things will have gone differently had they not bought him.... Again having Ronaldo in Serie A has done wonders for the league. I mean there will have been no way espn will have bought the TV rights had he not come.They are even showing Genoa -Cagliari today. That will never have happened had Ronaldo not signed but I think Juve’s results (more or less) will have been the same either way.
Oddly enough the one player under contract that COULD have played this role was Higuan. He ended up being a pretty decent hold up player and in his second year he did a good job of setting up his other forwards and he even started dropping deep into the midfield to pick up the ball and move it forward. he was also a much better finisher in the box than Mandzu has proved to be. Since Chelsea is prolly not going to keep him, perhaps they should give that a go next season?
The biggest problem was not attack, it was midfield. Gasperini drafted the blue print. Rough up the midfield, press them, foul them and they become dysfunctional. It is what Ajax did. We also had the problem with the midfield laying off the pedal once we scored. When they pushed and attacked, we were difficult to play against. But then they would retreat with a lead. The momentum would change.
Dybala can be an outlet all over the field and he is pretty good at this when in form. However for the reasons you mention, he isn't consistent great in this role. Defenses collapse on Ronaldo and Mandzukic so the only open spaces are out wide. In the first leg vs Atletico, it was very crowded in the center for example. Now factor in that the strength of the Ronaldo and Mandzukic tandem is on crosses, Bernardeschi is better at this. It's also important to keep in mind that Allegri likes to play a 4-4-2 when defending. Dybala can't cover the sideline. Bernardeschi can because of his physical attributes. That's why after 4 years it's easier to make the case that Dybala is most effective behind a supportive #9 with other mids working behind them.
So you are arguing to get rid of him. Allegri was trying to make more out of him. He is not going to replace Ronaldo. So either he is a back up or gone in your view. He needs to become that third striker/trequartista.
Juve was playing a 4-2-3-1 that year which was genius. Dybala was right behind Higuain. Higuain was forced to not just be a finisher but to drop deep to open spaces for Dybala (Tottenham away goal classic example). However Higuain is awful in the air so Mandzukic had to be included. It all worked out. It couldn't continue because this took a physical toll on Mandzu. Cuadrado got hurt (who covered the right side). Higuain looked like he was losing a step. Plus Dybala got hurt. That's why without Ronaldo, Juve would have been in a lot of trouble offensively.
Had Allegri stayed then I'd understand selling him because Allegri couldn't find a solution that was workable with Dybala and Ronaldo. A 4-2-3-1 didn't work because Mandzukic couldn't be asked to cover the left flank for another year. Plus, Cuadrado got hurt who as brainless as he is at times was tireless defending on the right. It also wouldn't make the best of Ronaldo to instruct him to defend the left or play as a #9. It's a strange problem to have. Juve have two players capable of scoring 25 goals each but neither is a #9 or a trequartista and both are defensive liabilities. It will be interesting to see how the next coach accommodates them both. Problematically benching Dybala is an issue for the player and club. It's too expensive for Juve and Dybala is good enough to play a leading role in his best position. It would be tough to lose Dybala only for him to shine in his prime elsewhere after Juve invested so much in him. It's also more difficult because his transfer value wasn't what it was 12 months ago. At his peak it was possible to see a club pay 150m euros for him where now I doubt he goes for 80/90m should Juve sell.
I would try a triangle with Mandzukic at top, Ronaldo & Dybala behind, offset & not in a linear way. The same can be done with Bernardeschi & Dybala behind Ronaldo as a false 9 of sorts. Best is when the players rotate around during the match. It drives defenders crazy.
IMHO our best shot at making that work would have been a 3-4-3 where we use Cuadrado/Cancelo and Spina/Sandro as wing backs to fill the flanks and the other 3 in the triangle Falc describes. The only real problem with this is it does put some pressure on the defense since we will have 2 players and maybe 3 depending on who the other one in the triangle is that don't do much defending and take off a more defensive midfielder. However, we would have our most talented players on the field and when we defend will end up with 5 in the back. It was worth a try IMHO.
It will all change now with Allegri moving on, but the Mandzukic, Dybala, Ronaldo front three had issues because it required that one of them cover a flank in Allegri's 4-4-2 defensive shape. Usually that was Mandzukic who basically killed himself physically over the last 3 years. So without him in good physical condition, Juve's midfield was overrun as Dybala and Ronaldo are defensive liabilities. Playing all three requires that Sandro & Cancelo play almost like wingers in attack to maintain width since Mandzukic, Ronaldo, and Dybala all come inside. Atletico exposed this in the 1st leg when Allegri opted for De Sciglio. All of Atleti's mids just stayed central closing off spaces for Juve's front three knowing that De Sciglio isn't a threat and wouldn't get forward often. Ronaldo as a traditional #9 was tried at Real and Juve. It was never very effective. As a false #9 it means that he would be coming away from goal rather than going toward it. The other problem with having Ronaldo or Dybala as #9s is that other teams pressed Juve very high knowing that those two would lose most of the aerial challenges vs opposing CBs. Mandzukic was crucial in this regard because it gave Juve a way to bypass a press by just going long. It will be interesting to see how a new coach figures this out. Allegri is a great coach and couldn't do it. Argentina's coaches also couldn't fit Dybala, Higuaín/Aguero, Messi together because of how bad they are together defensively and due to each wanting to come inside.
Juve looked great in a back three earlier in the year. Unfortunately the following happened. -Barzagli and Benatia were injured/gone. Chiellini was often out. So Juve didn't have enough CBs until Emre Can was converted vs Atletico 2nd leg. Then he was hurt vs Ajax. -Cuadrado was out for the year. Love or hate him, he was a workhorse covering the right flank. -Mandzukic at his best can get himself in the position of a #9 then track back which helps Juve become a 4-4-2/3-5-2 defensively. He just couldn't sustain it understandably. He hasn't had a real break in 2-3 years between deep runs in CL, Euros, WC. There is a reason why Juve's winning percentage is so high with him. He is just prone to injury at this stage in his career.