As rumors continue to swirl about the future of Juventus marksman Dusan Vlahovic, the club are contemplating extending his contract to ward off interest from European giants.
What will determine the Serbia striker’s destiny next season is his ability to continue banging in the goals when sporting a famous Juve jersey.
Vlahovic netted 21 goals in his breakout season in 2020/21 with Fiorentina, and scored 17 from only 21 appearances the following campaign. This signalled Juve to come calling in January 2022.
The Bianconeri splashed the cash on his transfer fee and made Vlahovic the top earner in Serie A, fighting off serious interest from leading Premier League clubs with Vlahovic turning down the chance to join Arsenal.
His Juventus career exploded with seven goals in a dozen starts, and he has reliably ended up as the club’s top scorer every season. This is because he is focusing on getting into scoring positions, then using precision rather than power to bag goals.
Despite his impressive Serie A record, he has been an isolated figure under a trio of Juventus head coaches.
Various problems under Juventus managers
Max Allegri’s system meant that the Bianconeri sat back too much, in contrast both Thiago Motta and Igor Tudor utilized tactics to press forward although both left Vlahovic as the lone target man.
Tudor has achieved great success out of Vlahovic when using him as a second-half substitute with four goals from four games. As a starter the 25-year-old has been stifled this season, failing to score from his two appearances as he has been a marked man.
Vlahovic possesses a powerful and physical presence, despite lacking pace unless in short bursts. He uses his body well to hold up play and draw fouls, can drift into the penalty area as well as patiently wait outside the box to fire off an ambitious effort.
Ultimately Vlahovic requires a partner in crime to play off, with Kenan Yildiz so far filling that role.
David and Openda ineffective together
Tudor hauled Vlahovic off against resilient hosts Hellas Verona last weekend, because his target man was not getting any service. Bringing on unorthodox forward Lois Openda and goal poacher Jonathan David failed to alter matters, with the pair failing to link up well.
Now Tudor should try pairing Vlahovic with either striker if he is brave enough to switch his scheme to a 4-4-2 that the Bianconeri appear to be crying out for after back-to-back draws.
A bigger dilemma for Tudor is Vlahovic’s future role. Starting him alone means that he will effectively be man-marked out of the game, and will be lacking a team-mate upfront for a quickfire one-two move.
Bringing Vlahovic on as a substitute ruffles the feathers of opponents, resulting in goals, which worked wonders in the Champions League contest against depleted Borussia Dortmund.
Vlahovic is a handful, capable of dribbling and making short bursts to create space. In the penalty area he has a dominant presence. with the ball at his feet or in the air.
Two-striker system at Juve
He has the attributes, and impressive goal-scoring record, to become a more lethal no.9 but only if he becomes part of a two-striker system.
Tudor has toyed with altering his tactics from his heavily favored three at the back and one center forward. As yet this system has only been implemented during the second 45 minutes, when Juve have been under the cosh.
David playing off the shoulder of Vlahovic, as the Canada international is exceptional in tight spaces, could be the ideal solution if the Bianconeri play two attackers.
Although Openda could add steel if paired with the Serbian, with their potential partnership being monitored by Bayern Munich.
Vlahovic suits Serie A
Vlahovic possesses such a prolific record in Serie A that for Juve to sell him to a rival would be counterproductive. He should continue to thrive regardless of any tweaks to Tudor’s tactics.
Being brought on during the second half shakes things up, disorientates opponents and breathes new life and hope into his Juventus team-mates.
Yet Tudor should not only send Vlahovic on when the side is struggling, he should contemplate introducing his supersub to batter the opposition in order to make Juventus an all-conquering club.
The fear factor that opponents have in respect of Vlahovic needs to be taken advantage of, with Juve ensuring that their hot-shot plays a more significant part to maintain their winning DNA mentality.