Stephan Lichtsteiner turns 32 on Saturday, with his importance to Juventus as pronounced as at any time during his time with the club.
Football, when played well, is a simple game of endemic beauty. The sweep of the ball through the paths of its players can look as if daubed on a canvas, with the best of its moments preserved forever in the minds of their beholders.
Juventus, as the season has gone on, have approached that level; their recent good form reflected in their performances just as well as their results. For the rest of Serie A, it is ominous. If one were to list the players that have contributed most to Juventus’ success so far, it is those who apply the final flourishes that stick in the mind. Paulo Dybala, for example, or Paul Pogba.
Yet they would be nothing without those who provide the legwork and endeavour to go along with the ingenuity and invention – the heart and lungs of the side. After four seasons with the Bianconeri, and four Scudetti, Stephan Lichtsteiner is certainly one of those – the cloth that polishes the jewels.
The Swiss has proved himself pivotal in the Juventus side time and again. Perhaps outside from the flying wide men that create so much space for Barcelona, he has demonstrated himself as one of the most effective wing-backs in the game.
He turns 32 on 16th January and still shows no sign of slowing down, looking no less the tyro of energy that joined the club in the summer of 2011 after a three-year spell at Lazio.
His willingness and ability to cover a wide expanse each game mark him out as a wing-back rather than a full-back; he is an active part of the Juventus attack, rather than an occasional marauder, but he is an equally zealous (sometimes over-zealous, if one casts one’s mind back to the derby victory against Torino in late 2014) defender.
It would be simplistic to suggest that Lichtsteiner’s fitness was behind Massimiliano Allegri’s change back to the more familiar 3-5-2 system as he looked to improve the Bianconeri’s poor early season form, but it is equally true that it allows both the Swiss and his left-sided counterpart Patrice Evra, even more veteran at 34, to flourish.
Of course, the former Lille man had an enforced spell on the sidelines during this period, with October being spent on an operation to remedy his atrial flutter and subsequent convalescence. He marked his return with a goal against Borussia Moenchengladbach and since he came back into the side, Juventus have won all eight Serie A games, climbing from 9th to 2nd in the process.
It cannot be solely down to Lichtsteiner, but as well as winning games, the switch to three has completely shored up the Juventus backline – from 1.00 goal per game conceded before the Swiss’ return, it has dropped to 0.43 per game since; furthermore, the forward line have jumped from 1.33 before to 2.43 since.
Allegri has returned to a successful formula – one that necessitates exactly the things that Lichtsteiner does. His statistics do not necessarily mark him out as one of Serie A’s best defenders – 1.2 tackles per game is not particularly high. Nor do his attacking numbers stake that claim – 0.5 key passes and 0.3 crosses per game do not propel him into the upper echelons of the league.
Of course, the better sides do not need to defend as often, as they retain the ball. Moreso, with the creative forces such as Pogba and the still-revelatory Dybala in the middle, crosses into a target man are less required. Lichtsteiner comes to be simply an option; an extra body that contributes to the effect of swarming forward.
In short, he might not be the most glamorous player in the Juventus side, but he is one of the most vital. His presence is always felt, and his absence more keenly. As he enters his 33rd year, he shows no signs of easing up, and it is to the huge benefit of his team-mates.
Akin to Keats’ Cortez staring at the Pacific, to behold Stephan Lichsteiner is to gaze on something of the unique and wonderful – a hitherto unappreciated beauty.
It is to his credit that he is such a vital cog in such an effective machine, but his role in that machine means it is likely he will only be fully appreciated when the time comes to replace him.
I think most juve fans know how important he is to us.