Surprise move by the new Juventus coach: three-man team behind with the Dutchman alongside Kalulu and Gatti
Immediately a shove. At his first on the Juventus bench, Luciano Spalletti presents himself with one of his classic surprise moves. The Bianconeri line up with a 3-5-2 in which the left defender, alongside Gatti and Kalulu, is Teun Koopmeiners. A true invention that of the coach from Certaldo, because the Dutchman, when very young, had started his career as a central defender, until, at 14 years old, he was advanced into the middle of the field to exploit “his intelligence and his left foot”. Words from John van den Brom, Koop’s former coach in the AZ youth team. And there, in midfield or in the attacking midfield, in Gasperini’s 3-4-2-1, he expressed his best, leading Juventus to spend 51.3 million to snatch him from Atalanta.
koopmeiners central, why
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A “quality” choice, however, is the basis of Cremona’s “spallettata”. “Without someone like Yildiz I have to find some of this quality on the pitch,” Spalletti explained to Sky a few minutes after kick-off, following up on that half-clue he had given yesterday in the presentation press conference. “For me he is a midfielder/mezzala, his history also says so – the Juventus coach had said – He has often also played central defense and can also be placed there to get the action started well”. No sooner said than done: in Cremona, here is the first “spallettata”.
the precedents of Spalletti
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The last of a very long series, which began in Udine with the idea of moving Iaquinta from the center of the attack to the wing, in the role that would then allow him to be among the protagonists of Italy’s World Champion team in 2006. Unforgettable, then, the use of Totti as a false 9 at Roma, with the consequence of leading the Giallorossi captain to win the Golden Shoe in 2007. Or that, behind him, of Perrotta, transformed from a simple midfielder to a very dangerous raider. Until the Inter adventure, in which Spalletti invented Brozovic as a director, turning the Croatian’s career around. And who knows, from the evening in Cremona, the same fate may not befall Koopmeiners.
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