Andrea Cambiaso - Juventus’ Biggest Tactical Novelty This Season
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The Italian full-back has surpassed both Kostic and Iling-Junior in Allegri’s hierarchies, providing fresh tactical acumen for the Bianconeri manager.
The Serie A season may have only just begun but it’s already interesting to see the impact that Andrea Cambiaso had for Juventus so far. Signed from Genoa last summer, Cambiaso came back to Turin after a year-long loan spell in Bologna. It seemed yet another quick stop before leaving for another experience on loan. In Massimiliano Allegri’s 3-5-2 system, the importance of Kostic on the left wing seemed unshakable, and it looked like Iling-Junior was the first choice as a ‘game-changing’ substitute with his unpredictability.
In just a few weeks, though, everything changed: Cambiaso played in almost every pre-season friendly and in the first two matches of the new Serie A campaign - and he played well – while Kostic was ‘relegated’ to a marginal role in the squad and a potential transfer in the last days of the window is far from impossible.
This is because Cambiaso has a really different interpretation of the position compared to Kostic. If the Serbian is some sort of crossing machine that runs up and down the wing like a train, Cambiaso has a much more natural attitude to play toward the center of the pitch, occupying internal spaces, almost playing as an added inside-forward during possession. The idea of having full-backs that cut toward the center to help fluidity during the build-up is already used by many teams in Europe, but it can be considered a novelty in Allegri’s system, and it’s not certain that it will be used throughout the whole season.
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Even if Cambiaso is a more classic full-back, right now he offers Allegri more varied solutions than Kostic and Iling-Junior for the kind of offense he wants to run. Sure, when compared to the other two he is a less self-sufficient player, with fewer abilities to create decisive chances in the offensive third. The assist for Vlahovic’s 1-1 goal against Bologna came from a nice offensive play from Iling-Junior on the wing, something that would be difficult to see from the Italian full-back.
However, to have different players that interpret the role in a different way is still an advantage for a manager. At this start of the season Allegri, as we say, is betting heavily on Cambiaso’s tactical acumen, and he recently described him as a “very intelligent” player. A new solution, that Juventus found at home at almost no cost, in a moment when they’re trying to limit expenses on the transfer market. We’re just at the beginning of the season, but Cambiaso is already a nice surprise.
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