{"id":3220,"date":"2026-01-01T20:15:31","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T20:15:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.matteocoachperformance.it\/?p=3220"},"modified":"2026-01-01T20:15:31","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T20:15:31","slug":"analyzing-the-tactics-of-luciano-spallettis-juventus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.matteocoachperformance.it\/?p=3220","title":{"rendered":"Analyzing the tactics of Luciano Spalletti\u2019s Juventus"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Well, it\u2019s that time of the year again. Time to reflect on a 2025 filled with highs and lows, and time to look ahead to a 2026 filled with promise and excitement. And for Juventus fans, it\u2019s time to sit back and review a year defined by managerial instability.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Thiago Motta was sacked on March 23, just nine months after being hired, with Igor Tudor taking the reins initially on an interim basis. After guiding them to a top-four finish in Serie A that secured Champions League qualification, the Croat was given the permanent role, but he was given his marching orders at the end of October after a dismal start to the 2025-26 season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The reviews were mixed amongst the Juve fanbase. After all, Spalletti was just two years removed from guiding Napoli to a first Scudetto in three decades, but he was also coming off an unfulfilling spell in charge of Italy. Spalletti commenced his tenure with a 2-1 win at Cremonese before succumbing to three straight stalemates, followed by narrow wins vs. Bod\u00f8\/Glimt and Cagliari.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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After kicking off December with a 2-0 win vs. Udinese in the Coppa Italia, Spalletti returned to his former stomping grounds and was thwarted 2-1 at defending champions Napoli. However, he\u2019s bounced back in stellar fashion, spearheading Juventus to a 2-0 win vs. Pafos and a 1-0 win at reigning Coppa Italia winners and Champions League side Bologna, followed by a 2-1 win vs. Roma and a 2-0 win at Pisa.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It\u2019s shaping up to a heated battle for the Scudetto, and Spalletti is doing everything he can to ensure that Juve are involved in the free-for-all at the top of Serie A. Juve sit fifth in the table entering the new year, one point behind Roma, as well as two behind Napoli, three behind Milan, and four behind Inter (all of whom have a game in hand).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But just how has Spalletti transformed Juventus? Let\u2019s take a look.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Many had speculated that Spalletti would change from the 3-4-3 formation that Juve had grown accustomed to over the past few months under Tudor and revert to his preferred 4-2-3-1. He hasn\u2019t done just that, but what he has done is make gradual, nuanced adjustments rather than a radical tactical shift.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Bianconeri has been historically renowned for its \u2018Corto Muso\u2019 approach, their ability to win by a nose and eke out an ugly victory. However, it\u2019s clear that Spalletti is looking to eradicate this mindset and instead persuade his players to push for more and continue to attack rather than dig deep and defend. It\u2019s precisely this refreshing vision that has drawn praise from commentators like Nico Cantor and Glenn Davis<\/a>, and which has seen him introduce a change in their prevailing dichotomy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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When Juve pulled off the biggest win of his entire reign (so far), taking the lead before halftime via Francisco Concei\u00e7\u00e3o before doubling the scoring vs. Lo\u00efs Openda. Tommaso Baldanzi halved the deficit shortly after, prompting for a nervy 2-1 victory in Turin. Despite taking three points off his former employers, and despite gaining a massive victory with Champions League implications, Spalletti was far from satisfied with Juve\u2019s approach of desperately hanging on for the final minutes, lamenting, \u201cYou can\u2019t win 2-1 and wait for the referee\u2019s whistle. That\u2019s the wrong mentality.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Spalletti wants his players to show courage and initiative in possession, be that dropping deep to receive and dribbling out of pressure, or triangulating passes and drawing the opponent in before carving out a goal-scoring opportunity. He wants them to understand that winning isn\u2019t the only thing that matters \u2014 what also matters is how you win. He wants them to push for the 3-1 rather than dig their heels in and try to shore up a 2-1. He wants them to control for all 90 minutes, not just 75.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It no longer suffices to merely rely on an opponent\u2019s mistakes to score and then camp out in your own half and soak up the pressure: you need to be able to dominate, to make the fans enjoy the viewing experience and not just result, to impose themselves on the ball from start to finish. Parking the bus is no longer something to be proud of \u2014 it\u2019s a sign of weakness.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It\u2019s why, no matter who\u2019s playing where, each Juve player is well aware of what\u2019s expected of him on and off the ball. Even when he was playing outside of his preferred central midfield role, Teun Koopmeiners was able to deputize on the left side of the back three alongside Lloyd Kelly and Pierre Kalulu until Gleison Bremer\u2019s recent return from injury. Weston McKennie, meanwhile, has filled into the right wing-back position opposite of Andrea Cambiaso, whilst Michele Di Gregorio has proven an ideal \u2018sweeper-keeper\u2019 for Juve\u2019s possession-oriented style of play.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Kh\u00e9phren Thuram and Manuel Locatelli have forged an impressive synergy in midfield, Concei\u00e7\u00e3o has offered plenty of directness and unpredictability on the right side of attack, whilst Kenan Y\u0131ld\u0131z has continued to stake his claim as one of the finest players in Serie A as Juve\u2019s left winger.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The only real concern is at the center forward position, with neither Jonathan David nor Lo\u00efs Openda managing to cover themselves in glory following their summer arrivals from Lille and RB Leipzig. With Du\u0161an Vlahovi\u0107 set to depart on a free transfer this summer, Juve could very well be set for another striker signing unless things change up front.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Despite this lack of guarantees in attack, Juve have been able to hit their hottest run of form since the midpoint of the 2023\/24 season, closing out the year with four wins on the bounce, with just one goal conceded in that timeframe. La Vecchia Signora are starting to click on all cylinders under their new manager, sitting third in Serie A with 39 big chances created and 7.0 successful dribbles per 90, whilst only Inter have registered more shots and shots on target per match than Juve.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Whereas Tudor managed just 12 points from the first eight league matches, Spalletti has led Juve to 17 points from his first eight since taking charge; only Inter (18) have registered more in that timeframe. But he hasn\u2019t just won on a regular basis \u2014 he\u2019s done it with aesthetically pleasing football.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Over the past decade, Juventus have failed to achieve long-term stability with a single manager (apart from a certain Massimiliano Allegri). This lack of stable ground has prevented Juve from challenging the likes of Inter, Napoli and Milan for the title, but with Spalletti in charge, they might very well have found someone who\u2019s capable of staying for a long time and leaving his tactical footprint. It\u2019s why, with every convincing win and every imposing display, Juve will be starting to consider offering Spalletti a contract extension past its current expiry date of June 30.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n


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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well, it\u2019s that time of the year again. Time to reflect on a 2025 filled with highs and lows, and time to look ahead to a 2026 filled with promise and excitement. And for Juventus fans, it\u2019s time to sit back and review a year defined by managerial instability. Thiago Motta was sacked on March […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3221,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3220","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-aggiornamenti-serie-a"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.matteocoachperformance.it\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.matteocoachperformance.it\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.matteocoachperformance.it\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.matteocoachperformance.it\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.matteocoachperformance.it\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.matteocoachperformance.it\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.matteocoachperformance.it\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.matteocoachperformance.it\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.matteocoachperformance.it\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.matteocoachperformance.it\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}