“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” — you have surely heard this proverb. However, it doesn’t apply to Juventus, in particular.
The club has begun their Serie A 2021/22 season in an abysmal fashion, if not in the worst way possible. Having played two matches so far, they have drawn one and lost one following performances epitomising goalkeeping howlers, a lack of encouraging defence and unenthusiastic firepower upfront.
Amid all these, there stands Dejan Kulusevski.
It has been a short but effective career for Dejan Kulusevski thus far…
Learning his trade while playing for Atalanta as a teenager, Kulusevski amassed his first Serie A appearance in January 2019. He was then loaned out to Parma, where his notoriety increased exponentially. Eventually, he would complete his first breakthrough season with ten goals and eight assists (as per FBref.com) on the domestic circuit.
Kulusevski’s performances in the first half of the 2019/20 Serie A campaign were so eye-catching that it influenced Juventus to sign the Swede in the middle of the January transfer window. However, having signed Kulusevski, Juventus ultimately decided to let him spend the rest of the season with Parma, a top-tier club in the Italian footballing pyramid back then.
After returning from his loan spell, Kulusevski completed his first official training with his Juventus teammates in August 2020. With Andrea Pirlo being promoted to the managerial role on the back of Maurizio Sarri’s departure, Dejan Kulusevski welcomed the embrace of a manager who seemed keen to try out the young talents available at his disposal.
The 21-year-old earned 47 appearances totalling a tally of 2,738 minutes of football across all competitions (according to Transfermarkt) last season, logging seven goals and seven assists in the process. He wrapped up proceedings with a goal and an assist in what was Juve’s triumphant night — against Kulu’s former team in Atalanta — in the Coppa Italia final. The Bianconeri went on to beat La Dea by a 2-1 scoreline.
Born in a suburb of Stockholm, Dejan has felt the rush of versatility flowing down his veins ever since the inception of his football career. During his earlier days in Bergamo, he would play as a midfielder. Following his move to Parma, he was deployed at the right-wing position. Left-footed, Kulusevski could play there as an inside forward, coming inside with the ball at his feet instead of bombing down the byline and crossing the ball into the box.
Under Pirlo, he was recorded playing at seven different positions across the field, including right-wing, left-wing, central midfield, right midfield, attacking midfield, supporting striker and even central forward position (per the data from Transfermarkt) in the 2020/21 campaign. He might be 21, but surely he has had experienced an effective path so far.
Inspiring for Sweden and then adaptation under new manager
The summer would’ve been much better for Juve’s number 44 had not an ill-timed positive test for coronavirus hampered his involvement with the Sweden national team for the delayed UEFA Euro 2020.
However, Dejan Kulusevski, beating the odds, made a swift return, registering two assists in 35 minutes after coming onto the field as a second-half substitute in Group E’s last game against Poland. In the round of 16, Kulusevski, showing signs of the norm that he is still 21, failed to emulate his best as Sweden bowed out of the competition after an enthralling 120 minutes of football against Ukraine.
It was a loss for Sweden but not so much of a defeat for the 21-year-old Scandinavian on an individual level. Having played his first European Championship at such a young age, he had certainly succeeded in leaving some pleasant memories behind. Now the time was to return to Continassa — where Juventus’ newly-appointed Massimiliano Allegri was waiting for the players to return from their international duties so that he could choose the diamonds from the mine ahead of the 2021/22 season.
Missing Juventus’ first pre-season friendly against Cesena, Kulusevski started the game against Monza. The first half of the game saw him occupying the left-wing position. Just before the whistle in the first half, he was seen exchanging positions with Matías Soulé — another young prospect, meaning the Swede was now running down the right-wing. Soon Kulu was found operating the false nine position in the second half. While playing in the particular position, he pounced on a defensive mistake at the Monza backline and was able to put the ball into the net.
The outing again emphasised how versatile Kulusevski is and how many different roles he can perform consistently. In the post-match conference, the player admitted (via Football Italia):
"“I’m learning a lot from Allegri. Above all, I’m learning on a defensive level, every day I learn something new.“Last year it didn’t go as we wanted, even though we won two trophies. This year, we want to win the championship, we work for that.”"
Kulusevski seems determined to make a place in the starting XI his own
In the two games where Kulusevski has played this season, he has been allotted 54 minutes of football — perhaps not as much as his quality would’ve deserved. In Juve’s season-opener against Udinese, he was afforded 30 minutes, coming as a second-half substitute, while the following game against Empoli caught him playing for the last 24 minutes in the second half.
It would be fair to say that Dejan Kulusevski didn’t get the game time he deserved in both matches. Nonetheless, he, despite getting introduced late, was more influential for the Old Lady than those whom he had replaced. He was trying to run beyond the defence, make line-breaking passes and add an extra body into the attacking box.
For instance, after entering proceedings in the 66th-minute of the game against Empoli, he strived to unlock the defence with a few through balls into the ball — one of which was intended towards Manuel Locatelli. Locatelli met the end of the pass, but he failed to make the custodian work, thanks to cunning defensive work from an Empoli defender shielding their fort.
Since taking over the managerial job at Juventus for the second time in his storied career, the five-time Scudetto champion with Juventus has utilised only several different formations, with 4-4-2 and 4-3-3 being the most definitive ones. But despite possessing a versatile outlet like Dejan Kulusevski, Allegri has seemed quite stubborn about a potential Federico Bernardeschi “remontada”, with the Italian boss preferring the services of Bernardeschi over the compatriot of Zlatan Ibrahimović.
In volume one of the fifth edition of the popular Netflix show named “Money Heist”, one quote from one of the show’s protagonists in “Berlin” has been circulating quite a lot these days. The dialogue read, “if you really want something in life, you have to steal it from somebody else.” Kulusevski should note a point or two from that.
Kulusevski will get chances as the Champions League campaign kicks off for Juventus next week. Now, it is the player’s job to sort out the master plan he would put in place in an attempt to regain a berth in the starting line-up for the Bianconeri.
At the end of the day, if playing well doesn’t work, he will have to be self-centred on the field and looking to bag some goal contributions. That said, whether he takes control of a starting position in Allegri’s team by hook or by crook remains to be seen.