Leonardo Bonucci (103 Viewers)
- Thread starter Dostoevsky
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People underestimate how hard it is to cleanly tackle someone when they are running at you at pace and you are standing still/backing off.
Bonucci doesn't have the option to get tight the way the other CBs do, so is inevitably going to face that on occassion. He also, generally, doesn't have a 'safe' side to send the forward to the way the other CBs do to show a player the outside.
Slowing the player down a little to give others time to recover their positions is often the best Bonucci can do without taking the risk of lunging in early and getting sent off or allowing the player a clear run in on goal.
Now, I'm not going to suggest Bonucci is anything better than poor in those situations, but people should remember that they are extremely tough situations to deal with.
Bonucci doesn't have the option to get tight the way the other CBs do, so is inevitably going to face that on occassion. He also, generally, doesn't have a 'safe' side to send the forward to the way the other CBs do to show a player the outside.
Slowing the player down a little to give others time to recover their positions is often the best Bonucci can do without taking the risk of lunging in early and getting sent off or allowing the player a clear run in on goal.
Now, I'm not going to suggest Bonucci is anything better than poor in those situations, but people should remember that they are extremely tough situations to deal with.
Exactly what i was thinking....dont know why i didnt post that. Its whan thing being one one in a "stand-off" when the CB and the attacker face each other, but it is a completely different thing when the attacker is running at you full speed and he has the space to go whichever side he chooses to. I would even dare to say that Bonucci did a wonderful thing in those situations where he got himself carded cause if it was someone else instead of him they might have even missed the attacker which would have led to a goal-scoring opportunity.
Having played Sweeper and DM for most of my amateur footballing life, I can tell you that what you're saying is not completely true. Now I'm not saying you can compare that to having Hazard run at you but it gives you an understanding of these situations.
Yes you can't simply "show them the line" as you're not close to it, you're generally closer to centre field, but you can ensure you jockey and drive them away from goal. The first thing you're taught as a defender is never stupidly commit yourself, especially when it's going to lead to a break or even worse, the absolute worst cardinal sin is to stupidly jump in when you're the last defender, but that's what Bonucci seems to do game after game. He is put in bad situations by the team yes, but he never shows ability or intelligence to get out of those situations ontop.
Against Chelsea, when he got the yellow, he could have easily showed the player the line, instead he showed him the inside and picked up the yellow.
Yes you can't simply "show them the line" as you're not close to it, you're generally closer to centre field, but you can ensure you jockey and drive them away from goal. The first thing you're taught as a defender is never stupidly commit yourself, especially when it's going to lead to a break or even worse, the absolute worst cardinal sin is to stupidly jump in when you're the last defender, but that's what Bonucci seems to do game after game. He is put in bad situations by the team yes, but he never shows ability or intelligence to get out of those situations ontop.
Against Chelsea, when he got the yellow, he could have easily showed the player the line, instead he showed him the inside and picked up the yellow.
He decided he was taking the yellow well ahead of making the challenge in that instance.
Anyway, as I said, Bonucci certainly isn't good at dealing with those one-on-one situations.
I just get fed up of some people making out that those situations he gets in are easy to deal with.
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Have you tried turning and trying to keep up with a guy who is already running at you at full pace?
Not easy.
You have to make a good job of slowing him down first in order to give yourself a sporting chance.
Anyway, as I said, Bonucci certainly isn't good at dealing with those one-on-one situations.
I just get fed up of some people making out that those situations he gets in are easy to deal with.
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Have you tried turning and trying to keep up with a guy who is already running at you at full pace?
Not easy.
You have to make a good job of slowing him down first in order to give yourself a sporting chance.
By no means are they easy, but invariably Bonbon makes the worst "panic and jump in randomly" or "plant self to the spot and stick leg out" type decisions in those situations.
For Juve to have their main CB to be such a weak defender is a worry, and having Pirlo pretending to defend ahead of him (he has an excuse being the playmaker) makes our spine very vulnerable.
For Juve to have their main CB to be such a weak defender is a worry, and having Pirlo pretending to defend ahead of him (he has an excuse being the playmaker) makes our spine very vulnerable.
I don't think that's entirely fair.
He almost always manages to slow the player down a bit and allows the other defenders to recover somewhat before he makes the challenge.
If he was doing it really badly, Juve would be conceding a lot more goals from those situations and Bonucci would be getting sent off an awful lot.
I can't say the Bonucci bit would worry me all that much.
It would disturb me a great deal how often the situation arises where an opposition player is being allowed to run - pretty much one-on-one - at Juve's last line of defence.
The combination of playing a genuine three at the back, playing a presing games and - as you say - having Pirlo as the deepest midfielder does leave Juve pretty exposed when even relatively minor mistakes are made by players higher up the pitch.
It's another reason - one could argue - for the 4-3-3.
Keeping the two CBs nice and tight together so that they can cover each other may well give Juve more security than having the back three strung run across the pitch, and often with one of them pressing up the pitch.
Either that or you keep one of the wingbacks a little deeper (like Inter do with Zanetti) so that the CB on that side can play a bit narrower and keep things a bit more compact and reduce the likelihood of defenders being left exposed one-on-one.
He almost always manages to slow the player down a bit and allows the other defenders to recover somewhat before he makes the challenge.
If he was doing it really badly, Juve would be conceding a lot more goals from those situations and Bonucci would be getting sent off an awful lot.
I can't say the Bonucci bit would worry me all that much.
It would disturb me a great deal how often the situation arises where an opposition player is being allowed to run - pretty much one-on-one - at Juve's last line of defence.
The combination of playing a genuine three at the back, playing a presing games and - as you say - having Pirlo as the deepest midfielder does leave Juve pretty exposed when even relatively minor mistakes are made by players higher up the pitch.
It's another reason - one could argue - for the 4-3-3.
Keeping the two CBs nice and tight together so that they can cover each other may well give Juve more security than having the back three strung run across the pitch, and often with one of them pressing up the pitch.
Either that or you keep one of the wingbacks a little deeper (like Inter do with Zanetti) so that the CB on that side can play a bit narrower and keep things a bit more compact and reduce the likelihood of defenders being left exposed one-on-one.
