The Croatian coach has never deviated from the three-man defense in the last 116 games. Without Bremer it will be inevitable to give more space to the veteran, but for the other three central defenders the risk of wear becomes real
Remember the “RW” button on the video recorder, the one that quickly scrolled the images backwards? Bremer’s injury suddenly sets Juve back a year: without their best central defender and with an emergency on the horizon. Fortunately, this time it is only a 30-40 day stoppage, but the limited number of defenders that Thiago Motta had to deal with until January risks being the same scenario that Tudor will have to manage, also considering the 7 games in 20 days that await the Bianconeri.
how will juve play without bremer
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Kalulu, Gatti, Kelly, Rugani: net of possible adaptations due to necessity (such as the retreat of Locatelli or Cambiaso), the Juve coach will find himself forced to manage the next block of Serie A and Champions League matches with just 4 defenders for three places. Yes, because there are no exceptions to the three-man defense in sight: Tudor has chosen the 3-4-2-1 as his reference formation since he took charge of Verona in the 2021/22 season and has never changed the rearguard structure in the last 116 games. Not even last year when, at the end of the championship, dealing with injuries and suspensions, he preferred to reinvent Alberto Costa as a central defender rather than switch to a four-man formation.
juve, who will replace bremer?
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The same is therefore expected to happen in this circumstance too. Due to his characteristics (as demonstrated in his last outing against Milan) the best suited to replace Bremer is Daniele Rugani: having returned from his loan to Ajax and confirmed in the summer, the Tuscan centre-back had to wait until October to find his first minutes of the season, but now he will necessarily have to be used with more continuity. Also because the alternative solution (Kalulu-Gatti-Kelly) would lead to two problems: the Italian would have to slide to the center of the defense, but on the two occasions in which he was used there (against Verona and Villarreal) he struggled; and, consequently, the Frenchman should be moved back to his right, with the use of McKennie adapted on the midfield flank or the starting launch of that Joao Mario who Tudor does not yet consider ready (in terms of defensive stability) for Serie A. Gatti, among other things, has already received 3 yellow cards in Serie A: the next one will trigger a warning, the fifth the disqualification.
juve, the most employed players
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In this emergency scenario, the only certainty is that the risk of “usury” will become increasingly concrete. Kelly and Kalulu have not yet rested a minute this season and are unlikely to do so now, breaking the barrier of 1000 minutes played already two months into the season. And Gatti too (already at 560′) is destined to confirm his position in the top 5 of Juventus workaholics. In short, a year has already passed since Bremer’s knee crack, but in these days Continassa seems to have made a whirlwind leap backwards of 365 days…
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