It was incredibly useful with Buffon in goal, because Buffon's weakness with the ball at his feet got worse and worse over the last few years. We saw it this year in CL when we had a nightmare time playing the ball out from the back with Buffon and Benatia-Chiello in front.
However, with Szczesny in goal, we don't really need Bonucci's passing to the same degree. Wojciech is a fantastic and accurate long ball passer, and can break the press with this when we're having trouble playing out from the back.
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Regardless, don't want this guy back. He burned all the bridges over the last year.