Spalletti debuts with a victory as Juventus coach. What the match against Cremonese said, what tactical innovations and the choices on the most discussed players
Luciano Spalletti’s first as Juventus coach ends with an important victory, both for morale and for the standings. Nicola’s Cremonese had never lost at home and had proven itself as a killer, taking important points away from Milan and Atalanta, and in the moments in which it could it also tried to scare the Bianconeri. So, positive balance on the night of the debut and since Comolli had explained that he had lost sleep over the performances and results of the last Tudor, it follows that he found serenity having collected the full stakes in two matches.
The other note is that, despite the very little time available, the former coach who joined in the middle of the week after the dismissal of his predecessor has begun to put something of his own into Juventus. It wasn’t obvious, but it shows how Spalletti quickly began to study the team that was put in his hands in depth and that, by his own admission, he must aim to compete for the scudetto to avoid resigning himself to mediocrity.
Spalletti, Koopmeiners in defense the novelty of his first Juventus
In short, Cremona’s Juve was truly Spalletti’s first Juve and not Tudor’s last or a sort of middle ground. Penalized by the absence of Yildiz, it has been designed with a couple of tactical innovations which it is easy to think that the new coach will work on in the coming weeks. The most visible one was the retreat of Teun Koopmeiners in the defense trio, left arm, with the license to touch many balls and help in the quality release of the ball: the sad Dutchman responded well to the stimulus even if he will have to be weighed on more difficult occasions in the defensive phase because Cremonese was almost not seen on his side.
If one of the objectives is to find Koop, however, the signal sent on the evening of the debut is clear: everything possible will be done. The most attentive players will not have missed the fact that the pitch area is very similar to the one played in AZ Alkmaar in the first seasons of his career, which was then continued in Italy with a more offensive role.
Vlahovic with another striker: Spalletti’s breakthrough
The other message is to be found in attack where Vlahovicowner as it is logical that he is the strongest and fittest in the department (contractual issues must remain as such and not influence the technical choices) was supported for over an hour by another striker: Openda. Which continues to argue with the goal, but which was the support that Vlahovic asked in vain so many times from Allegri, Thiago Motta and Tudor.
The rest was done by a certain desire to make a good impression and put the draw that had already animated Brambilla’s interregnum against Udinese behind him. The final breathlessness confirms that there will be a lot of work to be done to fix things definitively. It must have been painful for Tudor to see his players change pace in his absence. For Comolli and the Juventus leaders, however, it is confirmation that they did the right thing in immediately cutting the cord with the Croatian. The season is long, more challenging tests are needed, but the night in Cremona brought Luciano Spalletti back to Italian football in great form.
