Key issues Luciano Spalletti will have to solve at Juventus

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Serie A giants Juventus are set to have their third manager in the space of a year in Luciano Spalletti. The deal is pretty much done and the Italian is expected to be unveiled tomorrow.

The task in hand is complicated, to say the least. The ex-Napoli manager faces the challenge of adding impetus to a struggling Juve which hasn’t won in eight games and potentially help them qualify for the Champions League.

Igor Tudor came across multiple problems in his stint and we look at some key issues Spalletti will have to fix at Juventus.

The striker dilemma

Since Kenan Yildiz’s performances dropped, Juve have been struggling for goals. Beyond that, there is still uncertainty about who their first-choice striker is. Dusan Vlahovic, Jonathan David and Lois Openda have all been inconsistent, with the word definitely kind to the Belgian.

Tudor struggled to incorporate all three into his system. They weren’t just tactical dilemmas, though. There have been big question marks about their performances, especially if young Yildiz wasn’t performing at his best. Spalletti is known to re-engineer attacks and he has a big task in Turin.

The Koopmeiners problem

Teun Koopmeiners has had a lot of problems at Juventus ever since he joined from Atalanta. He has been played in a variety of positions and setups but nothing has worked.

Juve spent a hefty amount to land the Dutchman and now, the responsibility falls on Spalletti to bring the most out of him. Khephren Thuram and Manuel Locatelli are usually the better components of the midfield but Koopmeiners’ uncertainty and how much he weighs financially puts pressure on the manager to somehow use him.

Spalletti is known to be a creative problem solver and this could be his biggest test yet.

Reinvigorating Cambiaso

Andrea Cambiaso has been a shadow of his old self since a move to Manchester City never took off. He struggled specifically under Tudor, having done quite well under Motta.

He is probably Juve’s most versatile and multi-functional player. Spalletti’s system at Napoli relied on that versatility of players in the backline and attack. Cambiaso at his best can still be one of the most prominent players in his position in Europe.

Tactical identity

Under Tudor, Juve never really managed to carve out a tactical identity. Motta did better but never took the next step in the evolution.

Spalletti is historically an overperformer and at Napoli, he used a relationist system which bound key players together. It wasn’t positional but Napoli had a clear identity. Juve need a pinch of that stable identity to kickstart their campaign.

Kaustubh Pandey – GIFN