Luciano Spalletti Could Help Unlock Struggling Juventus Star After Replacing Tudor

Written By Onyeka Daniel

It’s no longer news that Luciano Spalletti has replaced Igor Tudor as the coach of Italian giants, Juventus and he’s expected to be in charge for his first game in his new role this weekend when they travel away to face Cremonese with the aim off kicking off on a winning note.

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In their last game where interim manager, Massimo Brambilla was in charge, they secured a 3-1 home win over Udinese at the Allianz Stadium, which was also their first win in the last eight games played across all competitions and now, the idea is to keep the momentum going.

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Tudor had gone eight matches without a win across all competitions at the end of his tenure, had lost all of his last three and had not seen his side score in any of his last four and this led to his eventual sacking, just like the coach he replaced last season, Thiago Motta.

While the whole team has generally struggled this season under the previous coach, some players have struggled more than other, especially those that arrived with huge expectations from the last two summer transfer windows and one name that stands out is Teun Koopmeiners.

During his first press conference as Juventus coach, Spalletti said he tried to sign the Dutch midfielder in the past and now, he could be the one to finally unlock the player’s full potential after struggling under two other managers, since his move from Atalanta two years ago.

The Italian tactician replied to a question about Koopmeiners, who has so far failed to justify his €60m price tag at the Allianz Stadium: “I know Koop well because I followed him with other clubs in the past. Then, he cost a lot, and we couldn’t sign him,” Spalletti said.

“When I spoke to him yesterday, I reminded him that we had spoken on the phone. I had tried to convince him, even if our resources were inferior to the club’s [Atalanta’s] demands. I still have the same idea. I think he’s a holding midfielder or a box-to-box midfielder.”

Sometimes he’s also played as a centre-back. Here again, we have to congratulate a coach, Gasp, who coached him well and took the best out of this player, putting him in a different position. He presses the opponents and he has feet that, when he kicks towards the goal, know where the ball will end up.”

“If you cage him, make him play with his shoulders to the goal, close to the opponents’ defensive line, he doesn’t have the quality of Yildiz or Openda, or footballers who were born for that role and that position on the pitch.” He continued in his assessment.

“He has other qualities, but Gasp was excellent in taking the most out of him in that position, from a footballer who had other skill sets.” He further added as he confirmed his first Juventus squad following his appointment as head coach on Thursday after their win over Udinese.

The former Napoli and Inter coach has been forced to leave out two key first-team players in Kenan Yildiz and Lloyd Kelly as he signed an initial short-term contract until the end of the 2025-26 season and got to work in Continassa yesterday in his first training session.

Consequently, Spalletti has named a squad of 22 travelling players for the Cremonese match, but has left star attacker Yildiz at home. The Turkish gem has recently been suffering with patellar tendinopathy, sometimes referred to as jumper’s knee in his left leg.

This is effectively an inflammation that affects the tendon beneath the kneecap and he has been wearing a bandage around the affected knee in all of his recent Old Lady outings. That issue kept him out of the starting line-up for Tudor’s final match in charge of Juventus.

The 1-0 defeat against Lazio last weekend, but he returned and played the full 90 minutes during the 3-1 win over Udinese and now, according to a report from Ilbianconero, Yildiz will be left at home so that he can rest his knee but there is less cause for concern regarding. Kelly.

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The centre-back has reportedly been suffering with back pain and is not expected to be sidelined for an extended period. There is a boost for the Juventus midfield department, though, as Khephren Thuram, who missed the win over Udinese, has returned and is in contention to feature.

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