Capello: New Milan role suits Pulisic ‘better’ but ‘don’t understand’ why Vlahovic doesn’t play at Juventus | OneFootball

Former Italian coach Fabio Capello believes Christian Pulisic is even more dangerous when playing towards the middle rather than on the wings, but can’t understand why Dusan Vlahovic doesn’t start regularly at Juventus.

Capello shared his thoughts on the strikers of the top Serie A sides in his latest column for Gazzetta dello Sport.

The former Milan, Juventus and Roma coach praised Napoli for signing Rasmus Hojlund from Manchester United before discussing the other team sharing the top spot of the Serie A table with the Partenopei: Roma.

“Gasperini knows who to pick between Dobyk and Ferguson because he sees them in training, but Dovbyk seems too cumbersome to me,” wrote Capello.

“He scores in the box and has a great sense of goal, but he struggles in the build-up play.

“However, Roma have quality in attack with the creativity of Paulo Dybala and Matias Soulé. They are the ones who make the midfielders dangerous and allow the team to be effective on free kicks and corners.”

Capello: Pulisic can play anywhere

Fabio Capello (Photo by Jurij Kodrun/Getty Images)

Milan are just two points below Napoli and Roma, and even if their star Pulisic missed a penalty kick against Juventus on Sunday, the American remains the best scorer in the league this season, with four goals.

“Pulisic can truly play anywhere; he even looks perfect in his current role in a 3-5-2 formation,” noted Capello.

“He moves well, he has quality and speed and makes vertical runs. I feel that starting in a central position suits him better. He becomes more dangerous when he’s free to move.”

Juventus, on the other hand, are struggling up front as there doesn’t seem to be a clear hierarchy for the starting centre-forward. Capello, however, has clear ideas on who should regularly feature in the Old Lady’s XI.

Capello’s verdict on Inter and Juventus’ attacks

TURIN, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 27: Lois Openda of Juventus controls the ball whilst under pressure from Nikola Krstovic of Atalanta BC during the Serie A match between Juventus FC and Atalanta BC at the Allianz Stadium on September 27, 2025 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images)

“Juventus have a different situation because they do have a true centre-forward, Vlahovic, but Tudor keeps him on the bench. I can’t understand why, since David and Openda aren’t exactly shining and haven’t performed as expected,” he wrote.

“Let’s give them more time, but the Bianconeri already had a reliable centre-forward, perhaps too reliable, and this is why he’s not playing.”

Last but not least, Inter seem to have found solid backups to Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram, and that’s good news for Italian football too.

“It’s extremely positive that the club has found alternatives up front. Good news for Inter and Italian football, since Pio Esposito can develop close to Lautaro Martinez, Thuram and Ange-Yoan Bonny,” concluded Capello.

“Esposito is young but has already shown he’s a complete striker who just needs more playing time.”