Luciano Spalletti looking to make a comeback

Back and forth, like a caged lion. Yet the experience is that of a jaguar, marked by the passage of time. Many springs (one does not mention a gentleman’s age), many matches – perhaps two thousand – played, won, drawn and lost. The expression of someone searching deep within for an answer, looking down, sometimes up, whilst the match unfolds before him as if it were a trivial detail.

Luciano Spalletti is experiencing his time at Juventus as a sort of penance from which he cannot escape. Rarely have we seen him so at a loss when searching for a solution. The team has no rhythm, no heart, no vision – it has nothing. Douglas Luiz is a Brazilian who seems to miss Brazil, with its wide open spaces and its beauty. He moves within a few metres, and when he stretches out his leg, he resembles a child struggling to keep up with the grown-ups’ game. Everyone overtakes him, and he watches them as if unable to fathom the reason behind such fierce competition.

At the back, a momentary lapse in concentration is all it takes for an opening to appear, through which opponents swarm like mosquitoes. Even the goalkeeper, though not directly at fault, appears unremarkable—a vicar merely passing through the parish. Up front, Kolo Muanì is left to his own devices, a victim of his own technical limitations (so to speak). He cannot find his bearings, whether deployed in the centre or out on the wing. Who is Kolo? They knew him at Juventus – why has he returned? What is Kolo Muani for? He is not a centre-forward, he is not a winger; for the moment, no one knows what he is. Perhaps he will suddenly blossom, but how much has his absence cost us?

Juventus have six wingers; for clarity, they are González, Conceição, Zhegrova, Boga, Alajbegovic and, if you like, Yldiz too. With them, Spalletti quite rightly thought he could soar, playing a light-footed game. Then he began losing, looking sluggish, and started gazing at the horizon like a nostalgic general, with his binoculars slung across his chest. He reverted to his style of football based on depth, rather than sterile passing. But by then the tactics had fallen apart, despite the tactical anomaly known as Woltemade. He wanders through the Juventus forest, a white poplar, like a tree without roots. It is clear he knows how to play, but to no avail. And so, partly on the fringes and partly in the thick of it, he is pushed forward by Spalletti when there is hope to be found.

Meanwhile, Luciano is pacing in front of the bench. Back and forth, hoping to find his way back – perhaps as early as tomorrow against Allegri.