Analysing Manuel Locatelli’s Start to Life at Juventus
Manuel Locatelli was one of the summer’s hottest names. After becoming the standout player of Italy’s most exciting to watch side — Roberto De Zerbi’s Sassuolo — Locatelli starred in the group games of EURO 2020 in Marco Veratti’s absence. While the Lecco native was scoring twice for his country against Switzerland, the rumour mill was in full flow. Arsenal were heavily linked with a move, with whispers about Jürgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola also having their admirations. However, the 23-year-old midfielder was always open about where he wanted to be — Turin. The move always seemed destined to happen. I even posted a thread on Twitter about his suitability to Andrea Pirlo’s Juventus back in February.
Sassuolo’s president Giovanni Carnevali stuck to his word (and his guns) and finally agreed to loan Locatelli to Juventus with an option to buy for €25 million and a further €12.5m in potential add ons (in stereotypical Italian football fashion). He ended up as one of the Bianconeri’s two summer signings, alongside Moise Kean. Since the move, Juventus have struggled, picking up just fifteen points from an available thirty-three. They have already tasted defeat at home to promoted Empoli and to Locatelli’s former club Sassuolo. The Italian has featured heavily at the start of the season, with the fourth-most minutes — 953 in total. He is Juventus’ most talented midfielder (and at times it doesn’t seem close), yet it feels like the returning Max Allegri is misusing him. In this piece, I go into depth about Locatelli’s start to life at the Allianz Stadium, through an albeit limited sample size.
When we think about Manuel Locatelli, the first thing that comes to mind is his ball progression. He has been more often than not at the top end of rankings for stats such as Progressive Passes, Passes into the Final Third, and Progressive Distance. Some of this was owed to De Zerbi’s vertical style of football. In short, De Zerbi’s teams progress more than most, as he does not allow for passing from side to side or back to defenders. However, that shouldn’t discount just how good Locatelli is at progressing the ball. A staple of his game is long diagonal passes that release the wide players into acres of space.
This season, though, he has not been as progressive. Compared to last season his (all per90):
- Progressive passes have halved (8.31 vs. 4)
- Passes into the final third have halved (9.03 vs. 4.38)
- Key passes have halved (1.28 vs. 0.63)
A regression in these stats was to be expected. After all, Allegri is a much more conservative coach than De Zerbi. That doesn’t though, account for just how much they have regressed. The argument is there that yes, this is a small sample size and that’s true. But it can then also be argued that Juve are misusing him slightly. He has been their best midfielder this season, but it still feels like he’s playing with a leash around his neck.
One glaring reason why Locatelli is unable to progress the ball as he did at the Mapei Stadium, is the shape of Juventus’ team. This Average Position Map via SofaScore for the 1–2 loss to Sassuolo shows an evident problem.
Juventus lack width. The natural wide players — in this lineup it was Chiesa (22), Danilo (6) & De Sciglio (2) — either don’t push high up enough the pitch or come inside. Allegri has also adopted a 4–4–2 this season and tends to select one natural winger in Chiesa.
As mentioned above, one of the staples of Locatelli’s game is his sweeping passes out to wide areas. He particularly favours doing this from left to right. However, as Pirlo did last season, Allegri has opted for Danilo, the right-back, to drop into the defence when Juve are in attack. This is further complicated by Chiesa’s positioning. While he is a winger by trade, he likes to come inside to influence the play. In the game against Sassuolo he is essentially operating as the teams ‘10’. This leaves a whole right-hand side open. This means Juventus have two options, neither of which are ideal for Locatelli. They either go wide left to De Sciglio/Alex Sandro, which means there is less room for the left-hand side leaning Locatelli to hit or they stay central and narrow into Dybala, Morata, Kulusevski etc. who usually drop deep to receive the ball in congested areas.
This approach can work and has at times for the Turin club this season. It allows them to be compact and grind out victories (four 1–0 wins on the bounce shows this). But it doesn’t play to Locatelli’s biggest strength — his passing.
None of this is to say he hasn’t had a bright start to life at Juventus. He already has half the league goals he scored in the past two seasons, including scoring the winner in the Derby della Mole. But it is clear that adjusting from being the main man at a midtable club to being part of a squad with title aspirations (despite what Allegri says) has been an adjustment. He touches the ball roughly thirty times less per game from last season (99 vs. 61) and receives passes from teammates at a much lower rate (down from 77 to 40.3 per90). He is also attempting passes (87 to 50.6 per90) and carries (69.2 to 35.6 per90) at a much lower rate. Again, these numbers will likely improve closer to the mean (I wouldn’t expect them to reach his Sassuolo numbers, however) as Locatelli gains the trust of his teammates and is given more responsibility from management to control games. Juventus also favours building from the defenders, who often bypass the midfielders to get it into the feet of the attackers. With all respect, Sassuolo’s defenders didn’t have the passing range of Leonardo Bonucci or the line-breaking ability of Giorgio Chiellini. Finding the balance and adjusting to a slightly different role comes in time. After all, he is less than twenty games into his Juve career.
The EURO 2020 winner has also not been helped by the lack of consistency next to him in the midfield. Rodrigo Bentancur can be frustrating and struggles to influence games, Weston McKennie often looks out of his depth, Adrien Rabiot is talented but both he and Locatelli want to operate on the left-hand side of a midfield. Then there is the midfielder Juve do have that in their ranks that does appear to compliment the Italian — Arthur Melo. The Brazilian likes to control the tempo of games, playing quick and short passes. Coincidentally, FBRef’s player comparison tool has Arthur most similar player as Locatelli’s former midfield partner at Sassuolo, Maxime Lopez. Those two were the yin and yang of the Nerroverde’s midfield, working in perfect harmony. Unfortunately, Arthur has only played 136 minutes this season and if history is anything to go by he will spend more time on the sidelines than on the pitch (he hasn’t played more than 50% available minutes since he was a 20 year old at Gremio). If — and it’s a big if — the medical staff at Juventus can keep Arthur on the pitch, then it would more than likely coincide with Locatelli’s best performances at the club.
Overall, Locatelli’s start to life in Piedmont has been promising. He has been the best midfielder in a side that has struggled to get going. The side currently doesn’t play to his strengths a lot of the time, but that has not stopped him from showing his brilliance on occasion. His first goal for the club came as a result of a brilliant flick pass to Dejan Kulusevski. He picked up the ball on the edge of the box with time running out in the Turin derby and calmly slotted the ball in off the post to win the game. When he does get the chance, his long-range passes leave the people watching in awe.
The issue for Juventus is that they are struggling for an identity on the pitch. Allegri wants to keep things compact and grind out results, but the squad is not defensively astute enough to do that on a sustainable basis. If the Bianconeri want to get the best out of their most talented midfielder then tweaks need to be made. Allegri is an adaptable manager, he is not someone that has a formation/system and doesn’t stray from it. There is already noise that a midfielder is a priority in January, with names such as Axel Witsel and Aurélien Tchouaméni mentioned. Having a reliable partner in the midfield would go a long way to getting the best out of Manuel Locatelli. There is also the option for the side to move away from the 4–4–2 that has been implemented and move towards a 4–2–3–1 or 4–3–3 to get the best out of the side. This would allow for more width, and allow Locatelli to influence games more with his passing range, spreading the ball out to Cuadrado, Chiesa on the right-wing.
Getting the best out of Locatelli will be key to Juventus having a successful season. He has the ability to control games but has not been given that responsibility as of yet. With Juventus sixteen points behind Napoli & AC Milan already, it may be worth taking that chance sooner rather than later.
