Juventus: The problem with inverted wide midfielders in this system

Juventus have a situation on their hands that is not ideal, because they do not have a true left-sided midfielder to fully execute Andrea Pirlo‘s vision for the 4-4-2. Federico Bernardeschi is the best left-footed wide attacking player besides Dejan Kulusevski, but he is not consistent enough to be a regular starter. In response, Pirlo has even turned to center midfielders like Aaron Ramsey, Weston McKennie, and even Adrien Rabiot on the left. And the results have been predictably poor.

The best option for that role is, therefore, Federico Chiesa. He is one of Juve’s best players, even though it is only his first season in Turin. He has six goals and six assists. But fans have noted that Chiesa is better on the right side, as opposed to playing this inverted role in a 4-4-2.

Inverted wingers are a common theme in football now, mostly in the 4-3-3. We saw Cristiano Ronaldo put up ridiculous goal-scoring numbers in this role throughout his career, whether at Real Madrid or even Juventus last season.

But that’s not the system under Pirlo. A wide midfielder is further from goal and has less of a chance at cutting inside in a 4-4-2 (hence Kulusevski’s role). In a 4-4-2, having inverted wide midfielders causes two problems. It makes the field of play too narrow, restricting the amount of width a team can get in their play. And this can be disastrous for a team like Juve which necessarily has the ball for the vast majority of the match. Their play will become congested and predictable.

Juventus’ current situation does not favor the fullbacks either

The second problem seems lesser but is still important. With an inverted midfielder, the team then relies on fullbacks to provide the width. Juventus only have one competent attacking fullback in Juan Cuadrado. There are other options are Danilo or Alex Sandro, or they could use Federico Bernardeschi or Gianluca Frabotta and sacrifice further defensive stability in doing so. Though it’s not like Bernardeschi and Frabotta are great attacking outlets themselves.

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So the width created by the fullbacks is insufficient, and only Cuadrado can provide the right deliveries. So whoever is playing on the left and does not have a strong crosser behind them is in huge trouble, because now they have the stress of taking everything upon themselves in the attack.

Usually, that is Chiesa, who is great. But if it is not Chiesa, Juve are in trouble. Even if it is Chiesa starting, the weight of that effort and responsibility will take a toll over a course of consecutive matches.

Pirlo and Juve have a great need for a player like Robin Gosens who can start on the left side and provide width.

Until the Bianconeri can make an upgrade, they will be stuck playing this narrow 4-4-2 with inverted wide midfielders, which causes a host of chance-creation and even defensive issues if a slower or less defensively-adept/experienced fullback like Sandro (former case, lack of speed) or Bernardeschi (the latter issue) is starting.

Dejan Kulusevski is a left-footed player who could conceivably start on the left side, but Pirlo seems adamant on playing him on the right side so that he can cut inside. But as we are seeing, he is not getting many shooting opportunities since he has to play so far away from goal in this formation. When he does get up the pitch, he can’t cross with his right, so he must cut back, slow play down, and, again, make things congested and predictable for Juventus.

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There is no easy fix for Pirlo until the summer transfer market. But because of this schematic issue, I would consider Gosens nearly as important as a center midfielder, even if the midfield seems to be the most apparent issue. Because at least in the center midfield’s case, they have bodies. On the left side of the midfield, they have nobody besides inverting Chiesa or crossing their fingers with Bernardeschi.

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