Juventus, with Cambiaso the band and… Chiesa are improving

Don’t call him a fullback. Andrea Cambiaso is the real surprise of Juventus in August and not only for his good performance, but also for the way he interprets the role of full back. «He is not a“ linear ”like Kostic, he offers us different solutions», explains Massimiliano Allegri every time he is pressed on the class of 2000 who returned after a year on loan in Bologna.

At school with Thiago

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What does Max mean? Cambiaso doesn’t just go up and down the lane like the Serbian pendulum. In fact, he loves to concentrate and participate in the construction of the maneuver, almost as if he were an added midfielder. He has the foot to do it, or rather the feet, because Andrea is practically ambidextrous and was a playmaker at the start of his career. At Genoa, he was employed both on the right and on the left. A rotation that was also repeated in Bologna, where Thiago Motta was fundamental in his growth. The tendency to enter the pitch was enhanced under the technical guidance of the Italian-Brazilian, whom Cambiaso himself has repeatedly mentioned in his black and white presentation. Allegri dusted it off in the new Juve, also benefiting Federico Chiesa and Adrien Rabiot. In Bologna, however, after the beginnings with Sinisa Mihajlovic, he was employed as a full-back. In Turin, with Max, he can make the most of his offensive skills by sprinting at full range, a bit like he did in Genoa.

Past

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Cambiaso said he draws inspiration from Joao Cancelo, who they know well at Juve. The Portuguese makes quality plays and crosses his strength and Andrea hopes to repeat a similar path. Tough task, although the start in black and white promises very well. Some fans have bothered Zambrotta, due to his ability to use both feet and his offensive vocation, but if you want to make a comparison with another Juventus player from the past, one would rather think of Gigi De Agostini. Left-back, but so flexible that he wore all the shirts from 2 to 11 when the numbering was still the classic one. Indeed, at the 1988 European Championship Azeglio Vicini gave him the number “10”. Particular choice in a squad which included Roberto Mancini, Giuseppe Giannini and Roberto Donadoni. De Agostini also played as a winger and midfielder during his career, because with his left foot he knew how to do a bit of everything: cross, assist, shoot. In this, Cambiaso looks a lot like him and the first official match against Udinese confirmed it: a shot on target with difficulty blocked by Silvestri with his feet, another just wide, a kissing cross for Rabiot’s goal and a continuous, active and positive participation in the maneuver of the team.

Tactics

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After the success against Udinese, Allegri explained the new rotations of his Juve, dictated by tactical reasons. He did so by motivating Kostic’s failure to enter the field, the one who before the summer was given as absolute master of the black and white left wing. “With Chiesa in the field, better Cambiaso or Iling than Filip, who has other characteristics”, the synthesis of the concepts expressed by Max. Here, Cambiaso exalts the movements of Faith. Thus, Juve improves twice: on the lane and in attack.