During the first part of the campaign, Juventus had to operate without some of their finest stars. Of course we’re talking about Federico Chiesa and Paul Pogba, while Angel Di Maria has been unavailable more often than not.
With some his most technically-gifted players available once again, will Max Allegri maintain the 3-5-2 formation that helped him turning the tide in recent weeks, or will he opt for a new solution?
In his column for Calciomercato, Luca Bedogni tries to find the ideal solution for Juventus with Chiesa and Pogba back in the fold by January.
For the Frenchman, the 3-5-2 lineup won’t be an issue. The only concern would be finding the best way to field in the same formation for Adrien Rabiot given that both players prefer to play on the left side.
Nonetheless, we’ve seen Rabiot playing on the right side in the past. Thus, Nicolò Fagioli could be the sacrificial lamb, unless he can usurp Manuel Locatelli and Leandro Paredes for the Regista role – which remains unlikely.
However, the tactical analyst is more interested in Chiesa’s position within a 3-5-2 formation. He believes that Filip Kostic’s characteristics are more suited for a wingback role. Therefore the Italian would probably have to operate as second striker.
But this solution means that Chiesa and Di Maria will have to share the same spot, with one of them relegated to the bench.
Therefore, Bedogni wonders if Allegri will resort to the 4-3-3 formation which was the club’s original plan back in the summer. He also offers other edgy solutions, including 4-2-3-1 and 3-4-2-1.
But at the end of the day, Allegri’s choices could well depend on the physical conditions of the players, which has often been the case since the start of the campaign.
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