A key aspect of Juventus’s successful start to the season has been Antonio Conte’s ability to effectively adapt his game plan to any obstacle that has been put in front of his side. He has no set formation, nor a first choice line up, but rather a selection of systems that all the players in his first-team squad fit into and have specific roles.
Whether Conte uses 3-5-2 or 4-3-3 he has the players available to fill the different jobs that these systems require. There are around five or six regular starters, with the rest of the squad competing to be involved. While he has a lot of competition and variety for his midfield and forward roles, his defensive options are quite limited. He has been helped by the January arrival of Martín Cáceres, on loan from Sevilla, but he is still arguably short of an orthodox left full-back and a central defender.
Should he choose to play three at the back, as he has preferred on numerous occasions, such as last night’s Coppa Italia victory over Milan, then the defence automatically picks itself, with Andrea Barzagli partnering Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini. He has no other central defensive options. The only decision he has to make is who to play in the wing-back positions.
Stephan Lichtsteiner on current form in a shoe-in on the right, with Cáceres as a reserve, while on the left he can choose between the hard-working but inconsistent Marcelo Estigarribia, the sometimes defensively loose Paolo De Ceglie or even the aforementioned Cáceres. His preference on the left has usually been Estigarribia, with De Ceglie usually featuring at left full-back in a 4-3-3. It is when Conte adopts such a formation that he has more defensive decisions to make.
As with the 3-5-2, Lichtsteiner is almost an automatic choice on the right. Cáceres is an adequate alternative, but the Swiss international, along with Andrea Pirlo, has been one of Juventus’s most important players this season, providing two goals and two assists. Next to him, Barzagli is also very much an automatic choice. The 30 year-old has been arguably the best defender in Serie A this season, with his excellent positional sense, perfect timing in the tackle and calmness under pressure. Only Milan’s Thiago Silva can rival him. After Barzagli is where the questions really begin and it is not completely clear as to whether Conte has found the answers, as yet.
Chiellini has been ever-present for Juventus for a number of seasons, but there are still worries as to his defensive abilities at the highest level. Conte has used him as both a central defender and a left full-back, with mixed results. Unquestionably, Chiellini looks more comfortable and is less exposed in the centre, but there are still aspects of his game that cause concern. The two keys areas in this regard are his rashness and positional sense. The latter is more evident as a problem when he plays full-back. Despite starting his career in that position, he does not seem to fully understand it. He is often caught out by positioning himself to narrowly, leaving the opposition wide player with space to attack the byline. He also tends to get caught out of position when pushing forward, leaving the flank exposed.
As a result, he is often seen fouling the opposition as they break into the space he has left (an example of this lead to him been kicked by Erik Lamela in Juve’s recent victory over Roma). He commits on average 1.3 fouls a game, which is more than other Juventus defender this season (it is also no coincidence that Arturo Vidal has committed 1.5 fouls per game, a player positioned to cover Chiellini when he pushes forward). This also relates to his rash tendancies. While he makes the most interceptions per game of any Juventus player (3.9), it seemingly comes at a cost of conceding more free-kicks.
Therefore, Chiellini is Juventus’s second most carded player this season. While all this seems quite negative towards the Italian international, there is no questioning his merits as a central defender. When selected alongside Barzagli, he is one of half of a very solid partnership. His problems have largely come when play full-back, a role Conte has selected him to fulfill due the manager’s seeming lack of trust in De Ceglie.
It was De Ceglie who Conte picked for the role in his first competitive game in charge, a 4 – 1 victory over Parma. De Ceglie gave a convincing and attacked-minded display from full-back, given Juventus good width and supporting the attack. At 4 – 0 and with the game heading in time added on, Parma were awarded a penalty. As Sebastian Giovinco broke into the penalty area, he was cythed down by a rash challenge from the covering De Ceglie. The full-back was dismissed and Giovinco duly dispatched the resulting spot-kick. De Ceglie has only started five games since and it is seemingly his supposed defensive frailties that have led Conte to mistrust him.
In a back four, Conte seems to see Chiellini as the better defensive option, while when playing with wing-backs, he prefers the energy of Estigarribia. De Ceglie does not seem to have the ‘up and down’ qualities that the Paraguayan possesses to play as a wing-back, but there is an argument to suggest he is better option at full-back than Chiellini. His runs forward are better timed, giving Juventus greater balance, while his end product is very good and he is not as rash. Moreover he is a specialist in the role. When playing full-back, Chiellini looks awkward and uncomfortable, particularly without the amount of possession he is required to have. De Ceglie may make some errors, but in the main he is more suited to the role.
The other defensive option that has caused many a headache for Conte is Bonucci. The Italian international is in his second season with Juventus now, but there are still those who are unconvinced whether he has what it takes to be a regular for La Vecchia Signora. Once heralded as the future of the Azzurri after having an excellent season with Bari, he has not quite lived up to 0that early billing. He has certainly shown enough to suggest that he could be very important to Juventus, but there are still mistakes that creep into his game. On the face of it, he is a better partner for Barzagli than Chiellini. Between them, Barzagli and Bonucci are perfectly balanced. The former provides the organisation and solidarity, while the latter is very good in possession and can bring the ball out of the back to feed Pirlo.
One of the flaws of a partnership between Barzagli and Chiellini is that they are too similar. Conte certainly understands the merits of the first partnership which is one of the reasons why Chiellini has been pushed out to full-back on occasion. Bonucci’s problem, however, is that he makes too many defensive errors, largely due to a lack of concentration or positional errors. This was highlighted in last month’s draw with Cagliari. He was too deep positionally and had to stretch to make a weak clearance that landed at the feet of Andrea Cossu, who fired home. These types of errors have marred his time at Juventus and even cost him his place in the first-team last season, when Barzagli was signed from VfL Wolfsburg.
Clearly, there are people who trust him at Juventus, but he is not indispensable, as was highlighted when he was reportedly offered to Zenit as part of a deal to sign the Portuguese international Bruno Alves, last summer. At 24 years-old, age is on his side, but the feeling is he will have to come good soon or risks his long-term future with the club. He still has market value and is a potentially good bargaining tool to use for bringing other players. The risk in selling him for Juventus is that if he does manage to iron out the mistakes they have given away a defender who is perfectly suited to both Conte’s preferred systems and a potential first choice defender for years to come.
While it is clear that Conte has good options available to him, it is still not clear what combinations are best suited. It is difficult to criticise the way he has organised his defence given that Juventus are still unbeaten and have the best defensive record in the league. Certainly, when adopting a 3 – 5 – 2 system, he defence essentially picks itself, but there are questions over who he chooses for a back four. These answers are likely to be found over the next few months as the season draws to a close. It will arguably be next term when we see who has stepped up and who Conte trusts as he balances a Scudetto push with a probable Champions League campaign.
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