Despite being on the road to their ninth title in a row, sticking to Maurizio Sarri’s style of play wasn’t as easy for Juventus as it seems. With the presence of some new talented players and the new coach, it was expected that the team is going to flourish and perform even better than before.
This could be said for some aspects of their game, but when it comes to their defensive performance, it isn’t as satisfying as it was expected to be with the likes of the new additions and the old experienced players that know Juventus’ values to the core.
Although they kept a lot of clean sheets throughout the season, they also displayed some less impressive defensive performances. In this tactical analysis, we are going to dive into the Bianconerri’s defensive ventures and see what are the possible reasons behind their vulnerability. We will see what are the tactics Sarri could use to avoid performing poorly at the back.
Data analysis
Firstly in this data analysis section, we’re going to look into their aerial performance. Having strong aerial abilities is very important for being able to retain possession all over the pitch, but also to defend well in the most vulnerable area, the box. What is interesting to see is that Juventus have the second-best success rate (53%) in their aerial duels, right after Roma with 56%. Their winning percentage is well over the league average of 48.34%.
But looking closely though, we can see that the change in their tactical approach affected their aerial duels’ frequency. With their 22.22 aerials per 90 minutes, there are second to last in the league, showing that they don’t rely on aerial challenges as much as before. Last season their average number of aerials was more than 30 per game. The midfield doesn’t seem to put many efforts in the air as all Blaise Matuidi, Sami Khedira and Rodrigo Bentancur have decreased their average numbers compared to the previous seasons.
When it comes to players’ actions, there’s some noticeable change in their performance. One player, that doesn’t seem to play on his potential, especially compared to the previous seasons is Alex Sandro.
There’s a slight drop in some of his defensive metrics. Looking at them separately it doesn’t seem like a huge gap, especially having in mind the changed team strategy. But looking into his overall performance these changes do affect his positive contribution on the pitch.
In the below image, you could see that his frequency rate in some of the metrics dropped, but what is more important is that his success rate is also affected and it seems like he doesn’t put enough effort in some of his defensive actions.
His drop in performance doesn’t seem like Juventus’ main problem in the backline though. Many of the mistakes leading to goals have been done in the central areas, where despite having a good balance of talent and experience, it seems that there is a lack of awareness occasionally, which affects their record. The injuries make it hard to keep the consistency too and the transition from Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini to integrating the new players doesn’t happen as smoothly as planned.
