Juventus used a quiet test at Continassa to explore an unfamiliar midfield solution, with Luciano Spalletti asking Andrea Cambiaso to operate in front of the defence during the friendly against Cremonese. The idea did not settle during the match, but it revealed both the shortage facing the coach and the versatility he continues to see in the Italian wide player.
Cambiaso tried in the middle
- Spalletti had worked on the possibility of using Cambiaso as a deep-lying playmaker in recent weeks, with international absences, injuries and a reduced group of midfielders shaping the experiment.
- For the Cremonese friendly, Weston McKennie was the only established senior midfielder available. Manuel Locatelli and Khephren Thuram were injured, while Douglas Luiz, Sarr and Teun Koopmeiners were away on international duty.
- Juventus began in a 4-3-3, with Cambiaso at the base of midfield alongside the young Makiobo and McKennie.
- The early signs were difficult. Cambiaso struggled to provide rhythm, technical control and forward progression from the central role.
- Before half-time, Spalletti added a Next Gen midfielder closer to him and moved McKennie forward into the attacking-midfield line.
- After the interval, Cambiaso returned to the right side of the attack, a position closer to the one in which he has made his name.
A player valued for movement
Spalletti has long admired Cambiaso’s capacity to read the whole pitch rather than simply play along a vertical or horizontal line. He has described the former Genoa and Bologna player as a “3D footballer”, a reference to his ability to move, combine and appear in changing areas.
That quality helps explain why the coach considered him for a Douglas Luiz-style role. Yet Cambiaso’s strongest work under Spalletti has come away from the ball: repeated movement, late arrivals and the capacity to deny opponents a fixed reference point. Those instincts are more naturally expressed from a wider starting position.
His lack of recent match time also mattered. Cambiaso had been out for more than a month after suffering an ankle sprain against Parma at the end of August, and the Cremonese outing came during his return to fitness.
The immediate task is on the flank
The first attempt to turn Cambiaso into Juventus’ midfield organiser therefore offered little encouragement, even if Spalletti may revisit the idea when the squad is fuller and the player has regained sharpness.
For now, Cambiaso’s more pressing objective is to win back a starting place on the left, where Celik has moved ahead of him. The midfield experiment can wait; the contest for his usual place in Juventus’ changing side cannot.
