5 reasons why Andrea Pirlo isn’t the right man for Juventus

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Andrea Pirlo
Andrea Pirlo

#3 Andrea Pirlo has failed to find his best Juventus XI

Andrea Pirlo
Andrea Pirlo

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

Andrea Pirlo is indebted to Cristiano Ronaldo for his goals this season.
Andrea Pirlo is indebted to Cristiano Ronaldo for his goals this season.

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

Andrea Pirlo (right)
Andrea Pirlo (right)

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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