5 reasons why Andrea Pirlo isn’t the right man for Juventus
Andrea Pirlo arrived at Juventus in the summer to replace Maurizio Sarri, who faced the sack after failing to deliver the elusive Champions League trophy despite winning Serie A.
The appointment of Andrea Pirlo at the Bianconeri helm was met with cautious optimism because the former player's only previous managerial assignment was a ten-day stint with the Juventus Under-23 team.
The Andrea Pirlo reign at Juventus started off on a bright note as the Bianconeri began their campaign for an unprecedented tenth consecutive Scudetto with a convincing 3-0 home win against Sampdoria.
However, the 2-2 draw at AS Roma was perhaps a precursor of things to come as Juventus' indifferent form, especially on the road, have come to the fore and could end their near decade-long domestic dominance.
Following their disappointing 1-1 draw at Benevento, the Bianconeri have now drawn as many as five of their nine games to cede more ground to surprise league leaders AC Milan.
In the Champions League, Juventus crashed to a disappointing 2-0 defeat at home to Barcelona but have recovered to seal their berth in the Round of 16. However, they do not look like a team that could go all the way in the competition this season.
Five reasons why Andrea Pirlo is not the right man at the Juventus helm
It may be early days into Andrea Pirlo's reign at Juventus, but things are looking far from hunky-dory under the former player.
While talks of Juventus' domestic demise are too premature, Andrea Pirlo has a lot to worry about as the Bianconeri seem to be losing their aura of dominance in Serie A, and the Champions League dream may remain unfulfilled for another season.
On that note, let us take a look at five reasons why Andrea Pirlo may not be the right man at the Juventus helm.
#1 Inability to impose his preferred style of play
Andrea Pirlo assumed the Juventus managerial role with a promise to introduce a refreshing brand of pressing attacking football.
Andrea Pirlo said before his first competitive game in charge:
“Looking at the last Champions League, the teams that made it to the end of the competition are the ones that get the ball back in the shortest time possible. That for me must be a characteristic that must distinguish us."
While Juventus did look the part against modest Sampdoria, the team has largely struggled to impose Andrea Pirlo's style of play and to recover the ball quickly enough as was evident against stronger teams in Serie A and Barcelona in the Champions League.
Andrea Pirlo observed:
“At this moment, there is still a lack of reactivity in recovering the ball. We want to impose an offensive game; it’s normal that there may be a few more opportunities in the game for others. In midfield we need an amalgamation between players who have played little together up to now. It takes time to understand each other in the movements on the pitch. We are working on the re-aggression phase. It must be more immediate.”
#2 Overdependence on Cristiano Ronaldo
Despite missing a few games after he contracted COVID-19, Cristiano Ronaldo has belied his 35 years of age to make a blistering start to the 2020-21 campaign.
The Portugal captain has scored in each of his five Serie A games this season, netting eight times, with Juventus winning three and drawing two of these matches.
Incidentally, in the two drawn games, Ronaldo scored a brace against AS Roma and a goal against Lazio to save Andrea Pirlo's blushes and preserve his team's barely impressive unbeaten start to the domestic season.
Even in the Champions League, Juventus have won both games when Ronaldo was in the line-up. However, in five games without him, Andrea Pirlo's men stumbled to draws against Crotone, Hellas Verona and Benevento and lost at home to Barcelona.
This overdependence on the Portuguese superstar doesn't augur well for Juventus' prospects in any competition this season, as the Bianconeri have almost forgotten to eke out wins in Cristiano Ronaldo's absence.
#3 Andrea Pirlo has failed to find his best Juventus XI
While Cristiano Ronaldo remains a key player at Juventus, Andrea Pirlo has struggled to find his best XI.
Of course, a shorter-than-usual off-season wasn't ideal, but the Juventus manager is yet to find the ideal mix of experienced campaigners and new arrivals.
One such example is Arthur Melo who arrived with much fanfare from Barcelona but has found game-time under Andrea Pirlo extremely difficult to come by. Another player is Matthijs de Ligt who arrived from Ajax last summer but has made just two Serie A appearances this season.
The disastrous form of Paulo Dybala hasn't helped matters in this regard, especially when Ronaldo is missing from the line-up because of injury or tactical reasons.
Without Ronaldo and Morata, Juventus have struggled to score goals this season, something Andrea Pirlo has struggled to resolve.
That has meant that the Bianconeri have failed to beat modest teams like Verona, Crotone and Benevento, and this could come back to haunt them at the end of the season.
#4 Inability to solve Juventus' defensive woes
After Juventus endured their most torrid Serie A campaign last season during their nine-year domestic dominance, Maurizio Sarri's infamous 'Sarriball' and zonal defending tactics were widely blamed.
The Bianconeri struggled in an unfamiliar defensive system, conceding a whopping 43 goals - the most they have conceded during their near decade-long Serie A stranglehold.
Following his arrival this summer, Andrea Pirlo outlined that one of his priorities would be to ditch zonal defending for man-to-man marking as he aimed to restore Juventus' defensive resilience.
However, in 13 games in all competitions this season, Andrea Pirlo's men have conceded 11 times, keeping only four clean sheets, dropping crucial points against the likes of Hellas Verona, Crotone and Benevento along the way.
#1 Lack of managerial experience
The decision to appoint Andrea Pirlo was always going to be a gamble of sorts by the Juventus hierarchy, one that was perhaps inspired by the successes of Pep Guardiola at Barcelona and Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid.
The club hoped that the former player, who was brilliant during his playing days, would dazzle behind the touchline too. However, Juventus couldn't have been more wrong as Andrea Pirlo has struggled to look the part.
The Juventus manager has been guilty of too much tinkering that has meant that the Bianconeri haven't had a settled look about them this season. While that could be expected of a new manager trying to find his best XI, football is a result-oriented business at the end of the day, and Andrea Pirlo hasn't delivered enough in that respect.
While it is still likely that Juventus could rediscover their mojo under Andrea Pirlo, the club could soon run out of patience if results do not improve immediately and the Bianconeri do not start playing like champions again: frugal at the back, clinical up front.
However, by the looks of it, that is not looking likely to happen any time soon.
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Rachel Syiemlieh