Juventus‘ 2020/21 season was nothing short of a rollercoaster but in the end, an inevitable sight recurred: a bunch of zebra-striped shirts hosting aloft silverware.
Andrea Pirlo’s debut season a the helm returned the Suppercoppa Italiana and Coppa Italia to Turin, while Napoli’s slip-up on the final day gifted them a much-needed Champions League spot following a pretty torrid second half to the campaign.
Nevertheless, the Bianconeri’s late surge had left the hierarchy with a tough decision regarding their novice coach. However, the temptation of Massimiliano Allegri proved overriding.
A huge summer awaits as the club seeks to return to Calcio supremacy as swiftly as possible but first, let’s debrief a campaign that’ll be remembered – with both fondness and disdain – for quite some time.
Here are five things that we learned from Juve’s 2020/21 season.
1. Andrea Pirlo deserved a second gig
My opinion on Andrea Pirlo has vacillated drastically in recent weeks, with the novice boss subject to often unwarranted opprobrium by the Italian media throughout his debut campaign. However, the season’s finale had convinced me he was worthy of another season at the helm.
Rookie mistakes were rife and it was his apparent failure to learn from such errors amid Juve’s patchy run of form during the third quarter of the season that convinced me he perhaps wasn’t up to the task.
But after claiming two pieces of silverware, helping a Juve claim a top-four spot against the odds and coaching superbly to round off the campaign, I had leant towards #PirloIn before Thursday’s revelation regarding Massimiliano Allegri’s return.
While the move’s certainly harsh on Pirlo, I totally understand the club’s decision. With Antonio Conte out the door at Inter, Juve are now in a prime position to regain their place as Italy’s supreme force.
As for Pirlo, what beckons in the next stage of his young coaching career is a mystery. Sassuolo has been touted as a possible destination following Roberto De Zerbi’s exit. It’d be a great move for the Italian, who displayed plenty of promise during his maiden season in senior management.
Should his career embark on an upward trajectory from this moment forward, it certainly wouldn’t be a surprise to see him return to the Juventus bench further down the line.
2. Juan Cuadrado is a model of consistency
Holistically, the Bianconeri were plagued by inconsistency last season but there was one man who often contrasted his sides indifference: Juan Cuadrado.
The Colombian’s role as an auxiliary right-back was pivotal to Pirlo’s asymmetrical 4-4-2 structure in possession. Cuadrado was given the licence to venture forward to provide a source of width and creativity in the final third.
And while there was certainly a point in the season where Juve’s staticity and predictability meant they were overreliant on the veteran as a spark of attacking invention, through his exceptional one-v-one dribbling ability and mean crossing delivery, Cuadrado failed to disappoint.
Only Paulo Dybala (4.93) and Aaron Ramsey (4.79) notched more shot-creating actions per 90 minutes in Serie A last season than Cuadrado (4.59) among the Juve players. The Colombian, meanwhile, scored twice and registered a career-high ten league assists – outperforming his expected assists (7.2) by a 2.8 margin. His tally of assists was the most by any defender in Italy and the record number for a defender since the 2004/05 season.
While the marauding full-back was consistently good, he also enjoyed some stellar performances. Cuadrado’s display in the second leg of their Porto humiliation was majestic as he, alongside Federico Chiesa, put a faltering Bianconeri on his back – albeit in vain. Moreover, it was the Colombian who carried his side over the line in the pivotal late-season win over Inter; winning a controversial penalty late on before converting from 12 yards to hand Juve a 3-2 victory.
Defensive resilience became entrenched in Cuadrado’s game as well, especially in the latter stages of the season. His showing in the Coppa Italia final was a prime example of such resolve.
Overall, this was Cuadrado’s most influential season in Turin, with his distinct consistency certainly worthy of a contract extension.
3. The midfield problem remains
The club sought to solve its midfield problem last summer as Weston McKennie arrived from Schalke while a swap deal with Barcelona saw Arthur Melo exchanged for the declining Miralem Pjanic.
The latter was a bizarre move but one that Juve probably got – and will get – the better of. Injuries plagued Arthur’s debut campaign in Turin but the Brazilian nonetheless manifested fleeting signs of what he can offer the Bianconeri going forward.
Elsewhere, McKennie’s flexible function meant it was often a Rodrigo Bentancur and Adrien Rabiot midfield pivot which, despite excelling in the final week of the season, proved a sub-par and unbalanced partnership for the most part.
While Bentancur’s an exceptional athlete with ever-evolving defensive instincts, he mightily struggled as Juve’s metronome. The Uruguayan doesn’t boast the requisite technical security to perform the role and was constantly exposed against high-pressing sides. A return to a box-to-box function may be welcomed, but the key is to reduce his burden in possession. Essentially, he performed the role meant for Arthur.
Bentancur’s future is far from guaranteed.
Rabiot, meanwhile, may well be one of the most frustrating players I’ve ever come across. The Frenchman’s knack of oscillating between Claudio Marchisio to Christian Poulsen is uncanny.
Remember that iconic Gennaro Gattuso press conference quote – “Sometimes maybe good, sometimes maybe…” you know the rest – well, that’s Rabiot, only more extreme.
His role was fairly versatile within the pivot: often looking to get ahead of the ball, occupy and penetrate the left half-space and combine down that flank. His advanced positioning proved effective on occasions but risked leaving Juve short in defensive transition. Overall, I found when his role was simplified, meaning he’d stay behind the ball more, aid circulation and boast greater defensive responsibility, he looked a little more at ease.
His talent’s undeniable, but what’s the point if it’s only going to be unleashed once a month.
However, Juve’s biggest problem last season was creativity – or lack thereof. They were exposed in this regard. As I noted, there came a point where their reliance on Cuadrado was worrying and they struggled mightily in Dybala’s absence.
Ramsey continued to frustrate and while McKennie shone as a space-interpreter capable of causing problems inside the box, the American lacks the vision, subtleness and intricacy of a bona fide creator.
Their creative woes proved key in their demise between March and May as Dybala’s significance to this side was persistently laid bare, as was their need for further reinforcements in this regard this summer.
4. The future is bright
Superstardom is a matter of inevitability for Federico Chiesa, whose superb second half of the season saw him emerge as a fan-favourite in Turin following his eyebrow-raising move last summer.
Boasting an impressive turn of pace and pesky persistence, the Italian proved an invaluable outlet with a ridiculous energy supply throughout his debut campaign. His evolution in the final third was laid bare as well. Chiesa arrived with the ‘raw talent’ tag and someone who needs to mature in front of goal to reach the supposed ‘next level’.
The former Fiorentina man registered eight goals and eights assists in Serie A, outperforming both his expected goals (6.0) and expected assists (6.5) by the largest margins of his career thus far – highlighting a new-found maturity and superior decision-making on his part.
Chiesa will evolve into a protagonist of Juve’s ‘new era’, if you will, alongside Matthijs de Ligt, who was a mainstay in defence following his impressive end to the 2019/20 campaign. The Dutchman’s throwback style is refreshing but works in harmony with Juve’s DNA. Overall, the 2020/21 season did little to distort his projection as one of Europe’s leading defenders further down the line.
Dejan Kulusevski, meanwhile, sparkled sporadically but his potential is distinct. The young Swede exudes confidence and control in possession and the Coppa Italia final displayed his ability to pull off the spectacular with slick nonchalance. Pirlo struggled to find his optimal role, although Kulu started to find his feet as part of the front two functioning between the lines and interchanging down the right.
There’s no denying that seven league goal contributions was a fairly poor return, with Kulusevski hurt by a prolonged rut during the second half of the season. But anyone with a functioning brain should be aware that the 21-year-old is not a talent to give up on.
So, adding those I just mentioned to a list that also contains McKennie and Merih Demiral, it’s clear that Juve have an exciting young core to build around.
Youth squad members Radu Dragusin, Nicolo Fagioli and Felix Correia were also introduced to senior action at various points in the campaign, with Italy Under-21 international Nicolo Rovella joining the club in the summer.
Juve must persist with their recent transfer market trend of searching for gifted youngsters as opposed to veteran free agents. Think long-term amid the transition period. It may be easy to seek a short-term solution following a humbling campaign, but the board must put egos aside and embrace the challenge of rebuilding a title-winning team.
5. Cristiano Ronaldo’s role has to be altered
Allegri’s return means that Cristiano Ronaldo’s future in the truffle capital certainly isn’t guaranteed. In fact, reports suggest that Allegri’s set to ditch Ronaldo in favour of making Dybala the protagonist of his second reign.
However, for this piece, we’ll presume he remains on Juve’s books following yet another ludicrously productive season in Italy. Ronaldo’s 29 Serie A goals were enough to earn him the Capocannoniere.
Despite his goal-laden campaign, there’s a lingering feeling among some Juventini that Ronaldo in fact inhibited Juve’s fluidity in attack and their claims are somewhat justified. The erroneous belief that he should drop between the lines to combine and shift all over the pitch just to merely get on the ball certainly limited Juve’s attacking efficiency. Why? Well, one, he’s simply not very good at what he desired (dropping deep) and two, his withdrawal from a striker position reduced his side’s penetrativeness and, at times, led to dysfunction and confusion in the deeper zones he occupied.
This was a role Alvaro Morata performed admirably but one that, despite his best efforts, Ronaldo couldn’t replicate and it certainly hindered his side. He’s just not that type of striker.
What remains apparent is that he can still score goals, and plenty of them, due to his predatory instincts inside the box. Thus, patience is key for Ronaldo. The Portuguese international’s a pure poacher now and his late show vs Udinese perfectly depicted this necessary evolution.
Ronaldo’s not the mesmeric entertainer he once was, nor he is capable of producing moments of magic like his long-time rival Lionel Messi. Ditch the aesthetics and focus on efficiency. This transformation will retain his goal record but also facilitate greater harmony in Juventus’ attack.