Arriving at the Allianz Stadium in 2014, Massimiliano
Allegri has continued to impel Juventus along
the same upward trajectory that Antonio Conte
had established before him. With his three
seasons at the club giving rise to three consecutive
Scudettos, three consecutive Coppa Italias,
a Supercoppa Italia, and two runners up medals
in the Champions League, it is hard to argue
that Allegri should not be given a place at
the top table of world football. This season,
though, I Bianconeri have found themselves
in one of the more tight-run Serie A contests
of recent years.
As a manager, Max Allegri isn’t wedded to
a particular set-up. Like Marcelo Lippi, Claudio
Ranieri or Carlo Ancelotti before him, Allegri
looks to adopt the best system for the players
that he has at his disposal, a fact that has
led to his Juventus team mutating during the
course of his tenure, particularly where formations
are concerned. However, there are clear continuities
that can be traced across his teams throughout
his career.
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As a result, Juventus have undergone a formational
shift over the last three years. His predecessor’s
team lined up as a 3-5-2, a formation that
Allegri persisted with for the next few seasons,
but in time, the he began to favour a back
four. Despite having three of the best centre
backs in the world in Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo
Bonucci and Andrea Barzagli, Allegri eventually
felt that a four-man defence allowed him the
capacity to get more out of the squad available
to him.In the course of this season, Juventus
have invariably lined up in a 4-2-3-1 with
two of Chiellini, Barzagli or Medhi Benatia
being flanked by fullbacks Stephan Lichtsteiner
and Alex Sandro. In front of this defence,
Allegri places a double pivot of Miralem Pjanic
and Sami Khedira who act as a screen behind
Paulo Dybala, playing as a fairly standard
number ten. With Mario Mandzukic and Juan
Cuadrado in the wide positions of the midfield
three, Gonzalo Higuain heads up the attack
as its focal point.
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While Juventus line-up as a 4-2-3-1, their
structure fluctuates as the game moves from
phase to phase. Most notably, when Juventus
lose possession of the ball, Allegri likes
his team to drop into a more defensive 4-4-2
configuration with the wide midfielders dropping
in alongside the two central midfielders in
the double pivot.However, given the fact that
both Miralem Pjanic and Sami Khedira are played
for their ball-playing prowess, rather than
their explicitly defensive capabilities, the
Juventus forward players will often press
the opposition defenders aggressively at first
to allow the central midfielders to adjust
to a defensive position. Once this is done,
the team quickly assumes a 4-4-2 shape reminiscent
of the one Atletico Madrid adopt out of possession.Unlike
Atletico Madrid, though, who counter-press
aggressively, Juventus tend to be more passive
in their approach. With players who are less
adept in one-on-one defensive scenarios, Allegri
is keen not to have his team pressure the
ball too vigorously as this could open up
spaces that could then be exploited by their
opponents. As a result, Juventus often retreat
deep into their own half, looking to compress
space and win the ball back through opposition
mistakes.Having won possession of the ball,
Juventus’ double pivot functions as the
fulcrum around which the team’s attacking
play moves. By fielding two players with extensive
passing ranges in the central midfield area,
Juventus encourage opposition midfielders
to put the double pivot under pressure as
quickly as possible to avoid giving them any
time on the ball. With a third midfielder
marking the dangerous Paulo Dybala in the
number 10 spot, two potential scenarios open
up that the Juventus players look to exploit.Firstly,
given the three-man matchup in midfield, striker
Gonzalo Higuain will look to drop deep to
pick up the ball in space. Because the opposition
defenders are apprehensive about disrupting
their defensive line, he can do so relatively
untroubled.At the other end of the pitch,
the man-to-man parity in midfield tends to
leave only one opposition striker marking
the two centre backs. As a result of the space
this affords the defence, Allegri uses Giorgio
Chiellini as a ball carrier, encouraging him
to break into the midfield, opening up passing
lanes that would otherwise remain closed.If
the opposition attempt to counteract either
of these two scenarios, they will invariably
break off their tight marking of the Juventus
double pivot, ceding space within which the
two playmakers can now move more freely.Once
on the ball, Pjanic and Khedira look to utilise
another aspect of Max Allegri’s tactical
weaponry: Mario Mandzukic played as an inverted
winger. For the most part, inverted wingers
are wingers played on the side of their less
dominant foot, allowing them the ability to
cut inside onto their stronger foot to cause
problems for a side-dominant fullback.Mandzukic’s
threat, however, comes from the fact that
he is a physically imposing player who spent
most of his career functioning as a striker.
With fullbacks generally being more diminutive
given the increased athleticism their role
requires, the Croatian is able to dominate
in the air in a wide position, offering his
team an outlet that has proved remarkably
fruitful through the course of the last few
seasons.Despite the competition being undoubtedly
tougher this season, there will be very few
people in Italy who would be surprised if
Allegri repeats the feat again this time around.
