Just one week removed from his first defeat as Juventus head coach, Luciano Spalletti could walk himself into a familiar trap.
On his return to the Stadio Maradona last week, the 66-year-old’s men were heavily outplayed by an injury-ravaged Napoli side that prevailed by two goals to one; a scoreline that flattered the disappointing Old Lady.
The Bianconeri reacted by earning a crucial Champions League win over Pafos in midweek, but unless they back it up with a positive result at the Renato Dall’Ara, the newly-appointed manager could be staring at his first real crisis in Turin.
Needless to say, Juventus surely won’t sack another manager at this stage, so Spalletti can at least rest assured on this front, and rightly so, as Madama’s fortunes cannot be immediately overturned with a magical wand.
That being said, Spalletti would do himself little favour by stumbling against a Bologna side that is already ahead of him in the table, especially if the fans and pundits are going to point the finger at his tactical selections after the match, as was the case last weekend.
What Spalletti should revert to a four-back ahead of Bologna vs Juventus
Following his arrival, Spalletti has taken the credit for seemingly reviving the career of Teun Koopmeiners, albeit by fielding him in an awkward role.
The former Italy boss has attributed his decision to play the Dutchman as a left central defender to the lack of options at the back due to the injury crisis.
But while this decision yielded decent results at first, the 27-year-old’s limited defensive attributes were exposed in his real first test, with David Neres making short work of him while creating the opener for Rasmus Hojlund.
Interestingly, Koopmeiners was the main protagonist of an interesting tactical switch that was enthusiastically welcomed by the supporters in midweek. After starting the game against Pafos as a defender, the Netherlands international returned to his original role in midfield after the break, sparking a change from a 3-4-2-1 to a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Even though Juvenus reaped the rewards of this change in the shape of three valuable points, the major sources in the Italian media expect the team to once again start with a 3-4-2-1 shape against Bologna on Sunday.
Koopmeiners facing similar test against Riccardo Orsolini
If you ask an avid Serie A supporter who is the most dangerous right winger in the league at the moment, the most common answers will likely be: A) David Neres, or B) Riccardo Orsolini.
So, after enduring a torrid time against Option A last weekend, does any Juventus supporter fancy seeing Koop going up against Option B?
Again, according to the predicted lineups, the former Atalanta man will be accompanied by Andrea Cambiaso on the left flank this time, rather than the out-of-sorts Juan Cabal, which could be a slight relief, but certainly not enough.
At this stage, Juventus would be better off fielding a four-man backline, and letting Cambiaso duel with his international teammate, Orsolini, while being supported by the likes of Lloyd Kelly and Khephren Thuram, rather than risk having Koopmeiners isolated in a one-on-one duel against a fast and tricky winger who has been tearing Serie A defences apart.
In fairness, Spalletti doesn’t have too many ‘enticing’ options to choose from, but the team would arguably fare better if he picks the lesser evil.
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