It will come as little surprise to anyone who has been following Pirlo’s tactical circling around a tangled mess of lofty idealism and arrogant refusal to begin with the basics, to find the following analysis>
Juventus have failed to find an identity under Andrea Pirlo and that’s hardly surprising considering he used 34 different line-ups in his debut season.
It has been noted that the Bianconeri under Pirlo rely more on individual talents to get them out of trouble, seemingly showing no certainty over their tactics or style of football.
At the start, he had spoken of a ‘liquid’ tactical approach that would begin with three at the back and then move to four when losing possession.
It seems to have created confusion, as La Gazzetta dello Sport analysed his 34 Serie A matches at the helm.
Not once did he field the same XI players in the same positions.
Many of them had several different roles, such as Danilo at right-back, left-back, a centre-back or even occasionally as a midfielder.
https://www.football-italia.net/170208/pirlo-used-34-line-ups-34-games
This is astonishing. Some will blame COVID, some will blame injuries, yet still…even with these factors taken into account, the conclusion remains that we have been in a damn muddle all season. With a manager who has been wholly unable to gauge the squad.
It also confirms to me what I have long ranted and raved about, namely that players have no cohesion, no form and little idea of what they are expected to do game to game, moment to moment. Which makes it very hard indeed to judge true quality.
Admittedly Chiesa, Ronaldo, Juan and Danilo have fared well enough, but the rest of the squad have looked inconsistent at best.
All that could be more shocking will be if the club decide to continue with Pirlo…
