Paulo Sousa masterclass behind Fiorentina’s defeat of Juventus

Published on: 18 January 2017

The Bianconeri have been showing signs of weakness despite leading the Serie A title chase and the Gigliati defeated the Italian giants in their latest match thanks to the tactics of their Portuguese coach.

Embed from Getty Images

Despite sitting on top of the league table, Juventus have barely produced any convincing performances throughout this season and have often scraped through with victories.

If the shock loss away to Genoa in Round 14 revealed cracks in the Bianconeri squad as well as Massimiliano Allegri’s coaching, then the 2-1 defeat to Fiorentina on Sunday evening made things more evident.

Although the Gigliati won by a goal, the tactical nous shown by their coach Paulo Sousa was greater that what his opponent Allegri demonstrated.

Both tacticians lined their teams up with back three formations but the general approach of the game and roles performed by the players from the two teams were significantly different.

Sousa’s team attacked from the first whistle and they pressed when they did not have possession whereas Allegri’s side had stayed in their own half most of the time and often had difficulty transitioning from defence to attack.

Arguably the most inspired of Sousa’s choices was to use defensive midfielder Carlos Sanchez on the right side of the back three. Not only did Sanchez win his challenges at ground level and in the air, he acted as a link between defence and midfield and often kept the ball circulating.

On the right side of the pitch, Federico Chiesa operated as a wing-back instead of in his usual right-wing role. While Juventus had the exotic and often rapid Juan Cuadrado and Alex Sandro on their flanks, Chiesa’s role was simple and effective.

Embed from Getty Images

His work ethic was excellent as he dropped back to help his defence and he also advanced forward whenever the opportunity presented. Whether he actually got a touch for the Viola’s second goal is debatable but he did well to get into a scoring position in the first place.

While Sanchez and Chiesa were decisive in the Gigliati collecting the three points, the remainder of the team also made solid contributions, especially in comparison to their Juventus counterparts.

If Sanchez was linking his defence and midfield together, the Bianconeri did not have anybody performing that task. Leonardo Bonucci usually does it but he barely had the time and space to pick the right passes and his midfield also butchered the ball.

Allegri’s midfield was devoid of creativity as he decided to field three box-to-box midfielders at the start, leaving Miralem Pjanic on the bench.

In contrast, the Fiorentina midfielders had different roles and characteristics. Milan Badelj played an excellent game as a holding midfielder, Matias Vecino covered plenty of ground and made runs from midfield to get into scoring positions, and Borja Valero was graceful in his ball distribution.

Up front was another department where Sousa got things right and Allegri made errors. Nikola Kalinic and Federico Bernardeschi were a great combination for the Viola and had no issues when dragged out of position. Allegri started Paulo Dybala behind Higuain in attack and both forwards were isolated and failed to make a pairing.

Juventus are now just one point ahead of Roma on the table albeit with a game in hand but rumours of Allegri not staying beyond this season have emerged in recent weeks and Sousa is reportedly a candidate to replace him.

Even if there is barely any truth in that rumour, Sousa showed on Sunday that he was smarter than Allegri by designating the right roles for his players and allowing them to use the ball with greater efficiency than his highly-fancied opponents.

Source: forzaitalianfootball.com

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website.
Learn more