You can whine and cry all you want about it seriously
In the european cup, he was outperforming any defender every single game
And at juve, he was getting considerably better in the second half of the season
Most important, his ballplaying skills are far ahead of any other central defender we have. In a 3-5-2 the way you build up from the back is crucial, having 1 defender there with a pretty good pass or nice controll on the ball, is so vital, and conte, damn well knows this.
put lucio, barzagli and chiellini in the back, opposition marks pirlo and the wings ? lets see how many times those 3 will balloon the ball out off possession cause they couldnt connect to the midfield