After the injuries of veteran defenders Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci, Juventus will be dependent on a young center back pairing.
Matthijs de Ligt and Merih Demiral are considered to be the future of the Old Lady’s backline, but in the absence of their captains, they will have to rise to the occasion sooner than expected.
According to Calciomercato.com, Andrea Pirlo is considering a tactical tweak in order to maximize the abilities of the two youngsters.
In the presence of Chiellini and Bonucci, the young manager opted to play a deep backline which fits the characteristics of the aging pair – Chiellini in particular.
That strategy allowed the two veterans to stay close to their penalty box and wait for the opposition strikers.
Whilst this tactic worked well for the captain and his vice, the report believes that de Ligt struggled in this particular approach after returning the covid-19 quarantine.
The 21-year-old hasn’t been the same dominating force that the Juventus fans had accustomed to during in the latter stages of last season.
Therefore, Pirlo is expected to deploy a higher backline, which means that de Ligt and Demiral will play closer to the midfielders.
On the other hand, this approach will allow the two young defenders to come out of their areas and attack the oppositions strikers.
The source feels that such a tweak will help the two rising stars in showcasing some of their best playing characteristics.
The Dutchman and the Turk are both considered to be excellent in the one-on-one situations.
