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Made in Naples: Juventus and Conte’s famous three-man defence

Made in Naples: Juventus and Conte’s famous three-man defence

  • Jordan Russell (@JordRuss96)
Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri seems to have decided he will field a three-man defence against Napoli tomorrow night. So, now seems an opportune moment to look back on the day, almost exactly six years ago, when Antonio Conte made the tactical switch that would shape his coaching career for years to come.
 
Looking for an alternative to his 4-2-4 set-up in order to combat the strengths of Walter Mazzarri’s Partenopei side, he changed to a 3-5-2 formation which then became the cornerstone of the Bianconeri’s successive Scudetto triumphs. But what prompted the now Chelsea coach to make such a drastic change to his system?
 
His Juve side trailed the Neapolitans 3-1 and were struggling to deal with the threat posed by wing-backs Christian Maggio and Juan Camilo Zúñiga, as well as attacking trio Ezequiel Lavezzi, Goran Pandev and Marek Hamšík. The BBC central defence was then born and Conte’s team fought back to draw 3-3. In truth, they never looked back from that moment, as it catapulted them on to an unprecedented period of dominance.
 
Against the trident of José Callejón, Dries Mertens and Lorenzo Insigne, it is highly likely that Allegri will deploy similar tactics so that his defence is not left exposed. A 3-4-2-1 is the most likely option, with Andrea Barzagli, Medhi Benatia and Daniele Rugani set to face Maurizio Sarri’s fearsome front three.