Alright here it is. Hope Motta is reading this because I've figured it all out.
In the previous cycle we had a
spine of creativity running through the team from the defence to the attack. Their job was to either distribute the ball forward to the CF to hold up or bring in others, or occasionally to spread it wide. We realised how important it was to have this spine and not simply one player after Bayern gave Mandzukic the job of marking Pirlo and nullified our attack.
In
2015 the
spine was
Bonucci, Pirlo, Vidal and Tevez. In this system we played fairly narrow, and because Pirlo was a defensive liability Lichtsteiner and Evra had to show discipline to not both bomb up at the same time. In any case their presence up front was not really necessary because of the talent we had from the midfield onwards. It could be argued that the spine was less pronounced besides Pirlo and Bonucci because of the contributions not just of Tevez but also of Pogba and Marchisio but at this point Pirlo was very much the pendulum of the whole setup, and Bonucci his fallback when pressed.
With the decline of Pirlo we recognised that this spine was the right way to go and we sought as direct a stylistic replacement as possible for Pirlo (an impossible job of course) in Pjanic. In
2017 the spine was Bonucci, Pjanic and Dybala. In this system we somehow landed a Dani Alves who was still a world class player, and an Alex Sandro who was highly motivated. Both of them were able to push up partly because they were too effective not to use, but also because of the presence of Khedira who could cover the defence if needbe. Plus Mario's, Alves' and Alex Sandro's insane combined workrate made this possible.
What we should be doing in 2024 is to understand the creative qualities of our players and think of how best to assemble a creative spine as the central structure. It should be understood that this is a work in construction, and our aim this year should be not just to push for a scudetto win and a deep run in the Champions League but to have our tactical setup finalised and ready to conquer next season. This is a work in progress, in other words.
First and foremost we don't have a Bonucci. Bremer and Kalulu as our best CBs aren't a smart bet to rely on for playmaking (though Bremer's passing was looking good before his injury) However what we do have is Locatelli in the regista position (we are playing a 4141 not a 4231, and Locatelli is dropping back to CB to cover the fullbacks pushing up), a Di Gregorio who is supposed to be good with his feet and then a Koopmeiners further up the pitch. This is our best XI on paper as it stands.
When attacking we look more like this
So then our
2024 spine is Di Gregorio, Locatelli and Koopmeiners. Essentially Locatelli filling the Pirlo position and Di Gregorio his Bonucci. Koopmeiners then becomes like a Vidal with less running to do or a Tevez with less scoring to do. We have some pieces that are different to both previous iterations of this idea and their roles will become better defined over time. The other CM is a runner in a similar role to Khedira who will be there to be available to receive possession, open passing lanes and relieve pressure. I believe Thuram is better equipped for this than Fagioli. Luiz should be the guy so let's hope he can get himself together.
The question of
Yildiz is one which I think will be best answered with a
specialised role something like the one Mandzukic had. We will end up being lopsided, I think. He will probably gain more space as FC7 becomes more of a focus for teams to defend against and Koopmeiners finds his proper stride. Importantly FC7's ability to carve through defences solves a huge problem which has been how to get the most out of Vlahovic. If Yildiz and Koopmeiners can start to add more and more goals this also takes more pressure off Dusan which we have seen blunts his impact in a major way.
Finally our fullbacks are not on par with 2015 or 2017, not even close. Cambiaso looks like his will develop into a really solid player. A more technical Gary Neville. Savona is a player I think has a lot of room for growth and I hope we can facilitate that. Otherwise we will need a new fullback to replace him.
If this XI develops around this tactical idea and develop a good rhythm I believe we already have most of the pieces we'll need to get back to the big table. We have the talent and we have a coach who has brought the correct attitude. All we need is time and development at this stage I believe.
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