Juventus: Andrea Pirlo must be mindful of Rodrigo Bentancur’s confidence

Rodrigo Bentancur made a costly mistake in the first minute of Juventus‘ eventual 2-1 loss to Porto, and that error set the tone for the rest of the Bianconeri’s game. But while Bentancur deserves criticisms for the poor backpass, it would be reductive and unproductive to pin it all on the midfielder.

That mishap against Porto was not the first time Bentancur showed ball security issues or made a costly mistake in his own half. We saw him do this time after time in the 3-1 win over Milan, though he went unpunished, and in other matches in 2021.

Yet Andrea Pirlo has still insisted on Bentancur playing in a way that does not suit his strengths. Instead of taking heed and protecting the young midfielder, he keeps asking Bentancur to play out of the back, when he is not fleet-footed like his teammate Arthur and is not that kind of player.

Even after Bentancur’s early mistake against Porto, goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny kept on going to Bentancur with risky passes through the middle while the midfielder was under pressure with his back towards goal. Already, Juve were not playing to Bentancur’s strengths with his strategy against a Porto side that knew to press effectively against the Bianconeri, and Szczesny was exacerbating the issue. But the blame goes higher up to Pirlo, who should have communicated an executive decision of a change in approach.

Juventus manager Andrea Pirlo cannot ask too much from Rodrigo Bentancur

Arthur will still miss a few more games with this injury, so Bentancur will continue to be put in a tough spot. Pirlo needs to see the writing on the wall and understand that the confidence of a highly promising, valuable midfielder to Juventus is at stake here.

If Pirlo keeps asking Bentancur to do things that he cannot do or fails to handle the fallout of this match at Porto properly, then he risks damaging the confidence of the 23-year-old player.

Bentancur is a quality midfielder. No, he is not great right now and may not be a top starter for Juventus even in a few years, but he has a role to play with this team. He works hard and can progress the ball into the final third effectively, even if he lacks the creativity and class to be a true provider for the Bianconeri.

All of that goes out the window when Bentancur is stuck in his own half, under pressure, and forced to make plays that he cannot make. Bentancur is a role player miscast as a regista or a key man. Give him his role and watch him reward you. But ask too much, and he will sink further and further. Bentancur is young. He must be built up, not thrown into the deep end.