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Can Luciano Spalletti vision get The Old Lady singing again?

Can Luciano Spalletti vision get The Old Lady singing again?

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Former Italy and Napoli manager Luciano Spalletti has taken over at Juventus with the Turin club in need of a new direction.

By Graham Ruthven

Luciano Spalletti is already getting his sleeves rolled up as Juventus manager, although not literally. Were the 66-year-old to do that, Bianconeri supporters would see the giant Napoli tattoo their new boss has on his forearm. It’s a link to a rival many fans wish wasn’t there, but it’s also a reminder of why Spalletti has been hired in the first place.

Juve need a new direction. It’s been that way for a while, going back to when Maxi Allegri departed at the end of the 2023/24 season. That season wasn’t an outright disaster. The Old Lady finished third, their highest finish for four seasons, and lifted the Coppa Italia. Stylistically and tactically, though, Allegri-ball had run its course.

Thiago Motta and Igor Tudor both failed to transition Juventus into a new era and so Spalletti has taken over to do something his predecessors couldn’t. Winning won’t be enough. The Turin club also wants to play a modern, dynamic brand of football in line with what many of their rivals have been playing for years.

Spalletti’s most recent job was short-lived. He lasted less than two years as Italy manager, leaving his position in June as the Azzurri’s World Cup qualification chances hang in the balance. International football wasn’t a good fit for a coach who needs time on the training pitch to get the most out of his players.

At club level, though, Spalletti’s last job couldn’t have been any more successful. He guided Napoli to their first Scudetto since the days of Diego Maradona playing a style of football that lit up Serie A. This is the sort of success Juventus want Spalletti to replicate in his new surroundings.

The early signs have been positive. Spalletti’s tenure as Juve boss started with a 2-1 away win over Cremonese. A 1-1 draw at home to Sporting in the Champions League was less positive, but the new manager is already moulding The Old Lady in his own image. Some of his tactical tweaks have been fascinating.

One of those tweaks has been the use of Teun Koopmeiners as a centre back. Spalletti quickly identified a lack of progression out of defence as a fundamental issue and has deployed Koopmeiners, a midfielder by trade, as a solution on the left side of the back three. 

“I feel much better in this position, because I am not a forward who plays with his back to goal, where I played in other games,” said Koopmeiners. “I told the club that too, and I told Spalletti. I had already played this role many years ago in Holland and it is where I feel comfortable. I am a player who wants the ball, to pass to my teammates, to push everyone else forward, and I can do that with a midfielder and another defender near me.”

Spalletti has continued to use wing backs, as Allegri, Motta and Tudor all did before him, but has done more to push those players into the centre of the pitch to create overloads. Against Cremonese, Weston McKennie was positioned as one of the dual number 10s. A few days later against Sporting, he was a right wing back, but he occupied a similar area of the pitch in both games.

This has a lot to do with Spalleti’s view of the game. “Systems no longer exist in football, it’s all about the spaces left by the opposition. You must be quick to spot them,” said the experienced coach during his title-winning time at Napoli and the principles of relationism over positional play are already there in Juve’s set-up.

Whether this will work for Juventus and the group of players Spalletti has inherited remains to be seen. At Napoli, he had difference-makers capable of exploiting the spaces left by the opposition Spalletti references. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Victor Osimhen are match-winners. Do Juve have players of that ilk?

Kenan Yıldız could be one such figure. The Turkish international was one of the few Juventus players who took a step forward under Tudor. Yıldız was moved into a more central role where could impact games more directly and quickly became The Old Lady’s creator-in-chief and primary goal threat.

Up front, Spalleti has options, none of them outstanding, though. Certainly nobody at Osimhen’s level. Dušan Vlahović has started both of Spalletti’s matches in charge so far, and scored against Sporting. However, the Serbian remains clunky in possession and erratic in front of goal. Jonathan David and Loïs Openda are alternatives.

As Italy’s biggest and most successful club, Juventus want to return to the top as quickly as possible. It’s been five years since The Old Lady last won the Scudetto. Three other teams have won it in that time and one of them was guided by Spalletti. He is already putting in the groundwork for his next triumph.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from Serie A on FotMob this season – with in-depth stat coverage, including xG, shot maps, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Can Luciano Spalletti vision get The Old Lady singing again?

Former Italy and Napoli manager Luciano Spalletti has taken over at Juventus with the Turin club in need of a new direction.

By Graham Ruthven

Luciano Spalletti is already getting his sleeves rolled up as Juventus manager, although not literally. Were the 66-year-old to do that, Bianconeri supporters would see the giant Napoli tattoo their new boss has on his forearm. It’s a link to a rival many fans wish wasn’t there, but it’s also a reminder of why Spalletti has been hired in the first place.

Juve need a new direction. It’s been that way for a while, going back to when Maxi Allegri departed at the end of the 2023/24 season. That season wasn’t an outright disaster. The Old Lady finished third, their highest finish for four seasons, and lifted the Coppa Italia. Stylistically and tactically, though, Allegri-ball had run its course.

Thiago Motta and Igor Tudor both failed to transition Juventus into a new era and so Spalletti has taken over to do something his predecessors couldn’t. Winning won’t be enough. The Turin club also wants to play a modern, dynamic brand of football in line with what many of their rivals have been playing for years.

Spalletti’s most recent job was short-lived. He lasted less than two years as Italy manager, leaving his position in June as the Azzurri’s World Cup qualification chances hang in the balance. International football wasn’t a good fit for a coach who needs time on the training pitch to get the most out of his players.

At club level, though, Spalletti’s last job couldn’t have been any more successful. He guided Napoli to their first Scudetto since the days of Diego Maradona playing a style of football that lit up Serie A. This is the sort of success Juventus want Spalletti to replicate in his new surroundings.

The early signs have been positive. Spalletti’s tenure as Juve boss started with a 2-1 away win over Cremonese. A 1-1 draw at home to Sporting in the Champions League was less positive, but the new manager is already moulding The Old Lady in his own image. Some of his tactical tweaks have been fascinating.

One of those tweaks has been the use of Teun Koopmeiners as a centre back. Spalletti quickly identified a lack of progression out of defence as a fundamental issue and has deployed Koopmeiners, a midfielder by trade, as a solution on the left side of the back three. 

“I feel much better in this position, because I am not a forward who plays with his back to goal, where I played in other games,” said Koopmeiners. “I told the club that too, and I told Spalletti. I had already played this role many years ago in Holland and it is where I feel comfortable. I am a player who wants the ball, to pass to my teammates, to push everyone else forward, and I can do that with a midfielder and another defender near me.”

Spalletti has continued to use wing backs, as Allegri, Motta and Tudor all did before him, but has done more to push those players into the centre of the pitch to create overloads. Against Cremonese, Weston McKennie was positioned as one of the dual number 10s. A few days later against Sporting, he was a right wing back, but he occupied a similar area of the pitch in both games.

This has a lot to do with Spalleti’s view of the game. “Systems no longer exist in football, it’s all about the spaces left by the opposition. You must be quick to spot them,” said the experienced coach during his title-winning time at Napoli and the principles of relationism over positional play are already there in Juve’s set-up.

Whether this will work for Juventus and the group of players Spalletti has inherited remains to be seen. At Napoli, he had difference-makers capable of exploiting the spaces left by the opposition Spalletti references. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Victor Osimhen are match-winners. Do Juve have players of that ilk?

Kenan Yıldız could be one such figure. The Turkish international was one of the few Juventus players who took a step forward under Tudor. Yıldız was moved into a more central role where could impact games more directly and quickly became The Old Lady’s creator-in-chief and primary goal threat.

Up front, Spalleti has options, none of them outstanding, though. Certainly nobody at Osimhen’s level. Dušan Vlahović has started both of Spalletti’s matches in charge so far, and scored against Sporting. However, the Serbian remains clunky in possession and erratic in front of goal. Jonathan David and Loïs Openda are alternatives.

As Italy’s biggest and most successful club, Juventus want to return to the top as quickly as possible. It’s been five years since The Old Lady last won the Scudetto. Three other teams have won it in that time and one of them was guided by Spalletti. He is already putting in the groundwork for his next triumph.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from Serie A on FotMob this season – with in-depth stat coverage, including xG, shot maps, and player ratings. Download the free app here.