How Miralem Pjanic Fits the Tactics of Juventus Coach Massimiliano Allegri

Miralem Pjanic is a Juventus player. Announcing via their official website that they had sealed a deal for the AS Roma midfielder, the Bianconeri have already improved their squad and weakened a major rival before the transfer window has even opened.

The statement revealed the capital club will receive a €32 million fee for the 26-year-old, whose arrival in Turin—where he has signed a five-year contract—is a clear statement of intent from the Italian champions as they look to build on their recent success at home and abroad.

Winners of the last five consecutive Serie A titles and the last two editions of the Coppa Italia, with Juve's fightback after a dismal start to the 2015/16 campaign giving the side huge self-belief. That in turn led coach Massimiliano Allegri to insist that improving his squad this summer would be no easy task.

“We need to find players who have the DNA of Juventus and are able to raise the quality level of this team,” the former AC Milan boss said at a press conference last month. “We don’t just buy good players here, but above all good men.”

He and the club's hierarchy clearly believe they have found that in Pjanic, but it is important to understand how the Bosnia and Herzegovina international will work alongside the gifted players already at Juventus and where he will into Allegri's tactical approach.

To do that, it is first necessary to see just what kind of player he is, and in their latest signing the Bianconeri have added a player who has the attributes and abilities to fill a variety of roles in any midfield configuration for the Juve coach.

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Over recent years, the 3-5-2 formation—shown in the adjacent graphic—has been Juventus' default setting, with both former boss Antonio Conte and his successor Allegri opting to use it on a regular basis.

When at full strength, that places Sami Khedira on the right and Paul Pogba on the left, each asked to shield the defence and also press forward to support the attack.

Pjanic weighed in with 10 goals and 12 assists in Serie A for Roma last season, while statistics courtesy of WhoScored.com show he averaged 1.4 tackles and 1.5 interceptions in his 33 league appearances.

Those numbers, as the graphic below highlights, sit comfortably alongside those of his new team-mates, with his tactical intelligence and speed across the pitch meaning Pjanic could easily deputise for either man in that setup.

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Yet he is most likely to feature in the central role when the 2016/17 campaign gets underway, largely thanks to the anterior cruciate ligament injury suffered by Claudio Marchisio, who normally occupies that spot in the side.

In April, Juve’s official website announced that the Italy international had undergone successful surgery to repair the damage, but the 30-year-old would not return to competitive action for approximately six months.

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Therefore, with the Turin native ruled out until October at best, Pjanic can take up the deep-lying playmaker role in which he has thrived. Fielded there, WhoScored figures show Marchisio connected with 88.5 percent of his 63.5 pass attempts per game in Serie A, which the same source shows meant he ranked 13th among all players in the division for completed efforts.

Pjanic was 10th, with WhoScored showing he connected with 84.9 percent of his 65.5 passes per game, and the video below highlights how effective he was at retaining possession, a vital skill in European competition.

Another thing that becomes apparent when watching those clips is his ability to slip balls through to the strikers ahead of him, Pjanic displaying how well he can perform in an advanced role which will also be hugely important to the Bianconeri.

When reaching the Champions League final in 2014/15, Juventus alternated between a three- and four-man defence, often in the same game as Andrea Barzagli came off the bench to protect any lead his side had earned.

That was born from an interview Allegri gave to La Gazzetta dello Sport shortly after arriving at the club, explaining during a pre-season tour that it was essential for his team to be tactically flexible if they were to enjoy success.

“There are moments in the season where you can play with three [defenders] and others when it is better to do so with four,” he said (h/t Football Italia). “We need to work hard to acquire the knowledge to make it possible to use a different formation with the same reliability.

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The Tuscan coach described his alternative system as “4-3-and then we’ll see” in that same interview, often deploying Arturo Vidal or Roberto Pereyra as the most advanced midfielder who almost played alongside striker Carlos Tevez.

It was a formation that worked superbly thanks to the drive of Vidal, and although Pjanic is a much less vociferous player, he would be comfortable taking up such a position once Marchisio returns.

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The graphic above shows Juve’s regular starting XI in that system in 2014/15 on the left, while the team on the right is a predicted line-up for next season following the arrival of the dangerously creative Pjanic.

As can be seen in the graphic below courtesy of Squawka, he supplied 80 clear goalscoring opportunities for his Roma team-mates last term, a figure far higher than Juve’s three leaders in that same category.

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Furthermore, WhoScored showed that no player in Serie A made more through balls than Pjanic’s average of 0.3 per game. The same source additionally highlights that, while Pogba matched that mark, Juve’s next most prolific player in this category was Paulo Dybala with just 0.1 per outing.

Pjanic was the only player in Italy to reach double figures in both goals and assists last term, with the Opta highlighting the fact he created more goals than anyone else on the peninsula over the past three campaigns:

Whether in any of the roles in Juve’s usual 3-5-2 system or in an advanced position in Allegri’s “4-3-and then we’ll see” formation, there is little doubt that Pjanic is ready to help as he told the club’s official YouTube channel shortly after his move to Turin was confirmed.

“It's a great feeling, and I hope to score lots of goals, play well and win,” he said (h/t ESPN FC). “I just want to make the Juve fans happy. I'm delighted to be here, and I hope to give you lots to celebrate on the pitch. I hope we can win together, forza Juve.”

“I'm sorry that he went to reinforce a rival,” Roma stalwart Daniel De Rossi told the Il Messaggero newspaper (h/t Football Italia) after hearing the deal was completed, and he will not be the only one to feel that way once the new season begins.

In Pjanic, Juventus have signed a superb player and a midfielder who provides a wealth of tactical options and the quality needed to help the team progress both in domestic and Champions League action.