After a spell with Genoa, the Croatian coach Ivan Jurić was named the new manager of Hellas Verona in the summer of 2019. He had the difficult task of building a team that would resist the pressure and keep their place in Serie A, after an unsuccessful run in the 2017/18 season when they got relegated.
What seemed like a hard goal to achieve, ended up with fighting for a European football spot and then finishing 9th in Serie A last season with 34 points less than the champions Juventus, showing an intriguing style of play and consistency that they have lacked before.
The 45-year-old manager built a team that has its flaws but shouldn’t be underestimated since their approach was well-balanced and focused on exaggerating the players’ abilities.
In this tactical analysis in the form of scout report, we will examine Verona’s tactics and see how they looked prior to the new 2020/21 season. We will use analysis to see what are the areas that they need to improve on in order to keep their consistency and fight for even better performance.
Formations and squad
Verona, like quite a few teams in Serie A last season, heavily relied on their back-three strategy. The formations that Jurić most frequently used were 3-4-1-2, 3-4-2-1 and 5-4-1.
Their positioning on the pitch though isn’t so clearly defined as a 3-4-2-1. The coach had to adjust to his players’ strengths and has dropped the frontline deeper, right in between the attacking midfielders, while the whole team is highly positioned, often starting their build-up around the central line.
They usually use the centre-defenders for circulating the ball and retain possession who would then either spread out to the wing-backs who have a very active role in transitions or send it centrally to the central midfielders who would use their passing abilities to deliver it further. Their contribution to the ball progression and the attacking actions is crucial for Verona’s performance in the final third.
The lack of quality options on a few positions has forced Jurić to look for alternative approaches but also made him focus on the areas where he has solid performers in order to create a winning strategy. He managed to create a balanced-out performance despite the defensive vulnerability that comes with Verona’s defensive shape.
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