Opinion: Juventus already paying for their lack of depth | OneFootball

While the club’s summer transfer campaign succeeded on several fronts, the Juventus management has failed to provide Igor Tudor with sufficient squad depth, and the consequences are beginning to show.

The Bianconeri haven’t explicitly declared their intention to win silverware this season, but they are aspiring to challenge on several fronts.

However, bouncing between the Serie A, the Champions League, and occasionally the Coppa Italia requires a considerable number of players capable of competing for starting roles, especially for a team that hasn’t been afforded enough rest following their Club World Cup participation.

But on the contrary, one could argue that Juve’s depth has decreased compared to last season, especially in the middle of the park.

Juventus deprived themselves of squad depth

This summer, neither Nicolo Fagioli nor Douglas Luiz were replaced, unless you’d like to count Fabio Miretti, a player that the club doesn’t entirely trust, as evidenced by their attempts to sell him to Napoli.

Moreover, Weston McKennie has been shuffled all over the pitch, that he is now considered an afterthought in the middle of the park, while Teun Koopmeiners has been reduced from 2024’s top signing to a mere squad player who hardly inspires the fans.

(Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

Therefore, Tudor found himself in a sea of troubles when Manuel Locatelli and Khephren Thuram weren’t able to cope with the pace of their Hellas Verona counterparts on Saturday. Koopmeiners had to fill in a deeper role, but didn’t provide the required cover for the backline, while Vasilije Adzic is hardly a central midfielder, and it showed.

An Injury crisis could blow Juventus away

Elsewhere, Kenan Yildiz doesn’t seem to have a natural replacement, while Edon Zhegrova still needs to regain his best condition before taking some of the burden off Francisco Conceicao.

Moreover, Juventus don’t have any inspiring options for the wingback roles behind Andrea Cambiaso and Joao Mario, and fielding Pierre Kalulu in a more advanced role cannot be a viable solution, as Tudor doesn’t have extra defenders to spare, with only five centre-backs challenging for three starting roles.

Therefore, one could only wonder how the manager would be able to navigate his way through the packed fixtures list if hit by an injury crisis, since he’s already struggling in normal circumstances.

The January transfer window can’t come soon enough…