A few years ago Woody Allen created and starred in a film called To Rome With Love. I’m a big Woody fan, but I haven’t seen it. I mention it solely because of the name. After this past week, with Juventus losing to Roma – in Rome – and drawing Lazio – in Rome – I say: forget that title, there’s nothing lovely about Rome for Juventus.
Even Gianluigi Buffon was not immune to this special Stadio Olimpico wormhole, and he found himself sent off – and having given up a penalty to Miroslav Klose – after a few moments against Lazio.
Juventus drew 1-1, but they were clearly the better side. Aside from the penalty, Lazio never scored. On the other hand, Juventus created a goal from open play as the increasingly lethal partnership of Stephan Lichtsteiner and Fernando Llorente once again yielded fruit.
While it was better than the loss to Roma – after all, Juventus are still ahead of Roma by six points – this game still hurt. It’s always frustrating when a game is altered by something like a goalkeeper getting sent off, and then watching a team play better even with one fewer man only for said team to eventually fall victim to the final whistle.
One of the better performers for Juventus in that match was Claudio Marchisio. He reprised the regista role he played in versus Sampdoria and had a similarly successful game. While perhaps not as elegant as his compatriot Andrea Pirlo, Marchisio can get the job done as a regista. It’s been – to me – the most notable aspect of Juve’s play this past week. There really hasn’t been a player to find such success playing as a “vice-Pirlo” if you will. Paul Pogba seemed like an obvious heir, but he has revealed himself to be a more well-rounded, physically powerful midfielder and has thus demanded proper utilization.
Arturo Vidal has found decent success playing as a regista of sorts, but he is even then more advanced and far more involved in the defensive phases of play, especially out wide. Luca Marrone was tried as another possible Pirlo heir, but he didn’t have the goods to play as a regista. Marchisio is different though. With Marchisio as a regista, Juventus don’t seem notably less effective in attack than they usually do without Pirlo.
Perhaps this is because the club has two solid reference points up top in Llorente. Even Carlos Tevez was instructed to stick close to Llorente and use him as reference point by Conte, once Juve went a man down – a fact I learned from the Premium Calcio announcers. I am sure that the presence of these two helps ease the load, and Marchisio has found Llorente an easy target for long passes.
Perhaps Paul Pogba’s presence and continued emergence as a real force has helped, as opposing teams have to deal with the young Frenchman and Vidal in addition to Marchisio the regista. Or, more likely, a combination of these factors, plus Marchisio’s surprising – to me – ability to play as a regista have given Juventus the Andrea Pirlo alternative they have long searched for.
It’s funny that this would happen now. Pirlo’s extension seems to be moving forward, and he was quoted at the Gran Gala di Calcio as saying “yes, yes” when asked if he was staying at Juve. But, he had one of his worst ever performances with Juve in that Coppa Italia match against Roma. Plus he is only getting older. I definitely wouldn’t expect Juventus to pull out of any possible deal after two good games by Marchisio, but I think it certainly changes the dynamics of Juve’s midfield.
Indeed, it could lead to Pirlo seeing much less time in the future, as Conte preserves him for big occasions. On the other hand, such a situation proved untenable for the professional relationship between the club and Alessandro Del Piero, so perhaps this would not be the case. Either way, this is certainly something to watch for in Juventuslandia. Could Marchisio be re-making himself as a regista? And a darn good one at that?
Chill don’t worry about Pirlo….he will sign two more years, once he hangs up international boots will have more energy and will be important still… don’t forget teams know his quality and mark him tight..Marchisio doesn’t get the same treatment from opposition as he is normally a ghost on the pitch and does nothing.