From a perennial figure at Juventus, Fernando Llorente has imposed himself as one of the first names on Antonio Conte’s team sheet. With his height and physicality, the striker has become an interesting new cog in Conte’s system. More importantly, the Spanish striker seems to be forming a fruitful partnership with Carlos Tevez.
In Conte’s system, and since the long-standing injury of Mirko Vucinic, a prima punta (target striker) like Llorente is a very valuable asset in terms of what he provides the side. The Spanish call it boca a boca, meaning “mouth to mouth”. It refers to the team’s ability to instantly transition from defending at one end, to attacking at the opposite end of the field. Indeed then, referring to the striker’s ability to allow his team to bypass midfield and attack the opposition goalmouth instantly after defending their own.
Of course Juventus’ midfield is very competent, in fact it is the best one in Serie A and amongst the best midfields in Europe. That being said Andrea Pirlo often comes very deep, practically at the edge of his penalty area, and thus has an immediate target he can aim for. Llorente is such a physically imposing striker and adept at shielding the ball, that he becomes very useful to Juventus in relieving pressure from the defense and adding verticality to the attack.
In terms of his partnership with Tevez, Llorente opens up space for the Argentine. Although Tevez is perfectly capable of leading the line, he is nonetheless more comfortable coming from deeper. With his powerful running style where he can bulldoze his way through the opposition defense, it is important for Tevez to have those extra yards needed to attack the space. Llorente provides him that.
The Spanish international has begun to find his feet in Turin.
As a prima punta Llorente is the focal point of the attack, and in more ways than one. Obviously, his is focal in that he offers a reference point that Juventus can anchor itself around. However, he is also focal in that he ‘fixes’ the opposition’s central defender(s). Meaning that he pins the defense back, and forces the defender(s) to mark him closely.
The French appropriately refer to this attribute as aspirer la defense, meaning quite literally “to suck the defense in”. In other words, Llorente forces the opposition to defend more narrowly on him and thus opens up space for not only Tevez but out wide as well for the wingbacks running in behind.
Llorente really is an ideal partner for Tevez. In a way, he is something of a bodyguard for the Argentine. By focusing so much attention on him, the Spaniard takes a lot of the battering and bruising that Tevez would if he were the prima punta.
He is an excellent pivot for Tevez, and one the Argentine uses to roam around the entire width of the penalty area. It is possible that Tevez could score less goals now that Llorente has become the focus of the attack. The difference in Tevez’s output will probably be negligible however, and the general benefits to the collective would far outweigh such a consideration anyways.
We of course have to remember that Llorente is finally getting in the team due to Vucinic’s injury. It is difficult to guess what Conte will do once the Montenegrin returns. Vucinic does offer the height but also technical ability with ball at his feet that Llorente cannot match. Conte had done well to slowly integrate Llorente into the side, and the Spaniard is benefiting from it today.
Llorente had played very little football in the six months that preceded his arrival in Turin. Conte did marvelously well to protect him from over-exposure and get his fitness up. We see the fruits of his coaches’ management, and Llorente has that to thank for his recent run of form and newfound partnership with Tevez.
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