Daniele Rugani Learning At Juventus Or Stalling His Career?
"Our strong point is the defence,” Beppe Marotta told Radio Anch’io Sport (h/t Football Italia) on Monday, with the Juventus director general under no illusions about the quality of the back line he has assembled in Turin.
Gigi Buffon is arguably the greatest goalkeeper in the club’s history, yet such is the level of talent ahead of him that the Juve skipper rarely has much work to do. Indeed, according to figures taken from Fox Soccer, a staggering 21 players have made more saves than his tally of nine.
When noting that Serie A is 20-team league, that figure looks truly remarkable, and a number of other statistics serve to further showcase the strength Marotta had rightly highlighted.
The Bianconeri have restricted opponents to just 6.7 shots per game, according to WhoScored.com, with Napoli boasting the closest comparable figure in allowing 9.0 efforts per game to hit Pepe Reina’s goal.
Supported by the rest of the side, Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini have clearly been in superb form, with the trio routinely starting matches in unison as Massimiliano Allegri’s first-choice back three.
Marotta reinforced that unit further still this summer, acquiring former AS Roma standout Medhi Benatia on loan from Bayern Munich, and the Morocco international has quickly readjusted to life back in Serie A.
Within three league starts he settled into being part of that excellent defence, but his arrival has cast something of a shadow over the future of Daniele Rugani. With Benatia joining a squad that already boasted those three incredible Italy stars, the youngster appeared to be pushed even further down the pecking order.
He certainly found himself on the fringes of the first team in the first two months of the season, which Allegri explained at a pre-match press conference before the recent clash with Cagliari:
"Daniele Rugani will start and we’ll be assessing the condition of Medhi Benatia in the coming days. Daniele has improved a lot since arriving here even if his playing time was relatively low last term.
He has trained very well over the summer and, as I’ve said before, will be an important Juventus player for years to come. Given the number of matches we’ll be playing, you can expect to see lots of Rugani this campaign.
"
Inserted into the side from the outset, the 22-year-old marked his first appearance of the season with his maiden Juventus goal, smashing home a simple rebound after Marco Storari had done well to deny a volley from Gonzalo Higuain.
“I’m delighted for my first goal, the win and many other reasons,” he told JTV (h/t Football Italia) shortly after the final whistle, and he certainly had many reasons for feeling positive about his overall performance.
Playing on the right of the three-man defence, Rugani turned in another sound defensive display, proving once again that he belongs at such a big club and can play with the required intensity and concentration demanded by Juventus.
As the FourFourTwo Stats Zone graphic in the tweet below highlights, he registered one tackle, two interceptions, two clearances and won two aerial duels while also completing 45 of his 50 pass attempts.
Blocking one cross, he also received a yellow card and committed three fouls, all in the opposition half as Juve pressed high up the pitch against an overwhelmed Cagliari side who simply could not cope with the pressure exerted by the Bianconeri.
Rugani retained his place for the trip to Palermo last Saturday, but he would need to be replaced after just 31 minutes, with the official Juventus website later revealing he had strained the collateral ligament in his right knee.
That has seen him ruled out of action for approximately 45 days, meaning he has not been called up to the Italy squad for the forthcoming international break.
Having been part of Giampiero Ventura’s group for last month’s Azzurri fixtures, hopes were high he could be involved once again, but that is not to be now.
Despite the fitness issue ultimately preventing the coach from calling up Rugani, many—including Serie A writer David Swan in the tweet above—questioned the impact being at Juventus is having on the player’s career.
At the age of 22, he needs to gather more first-team experience, not be pushed deeper down the bench by the Bianconeri’s continued strengthening. Juve supporters may well counter by arguing that if he was good enough to play, then he would become impossible to omit, but there is no denying the delicate balance of the situation.
The concern comes from wanting to see Rugani succeed, a hope born from his impressive performances at former side Empoli, the club where his career began and where his potential first became apparent.
Joining the Tuscan side after growing up in the nearby town of Lucca, Rugani represented Italy at numerous age groups and was scouted extensively by the Bianconeri, who signed him in the summer of 2012.
Dropped into their youth sector, he would help the club win the Primavera Coppa Italia before returning to Empoli a year later. With the Azzurri in Serie B, Rugani would play 40 matches—completing 90 minutes in all but one—and help earn the side a place in the top flight, much to the delight of their fans.
“Rugani is one of the best players we’ve ever had,” Empoli supporter Francesco told Bleacher Report recently. “After one year in the Juventus academy he came back on loan, and in Serie A at age of 20, he played like a veteran!”
Juventus allowed him to remain with the newly promoted side and would see him thrive in Serie A, playing every minute of the season and developing into a tactically versatile and physically strong central defender.
He also managed not to pick up a single booking, which is a wonderful achievement in a league that has so often been synonymous with strategic fouling.
His performances would prompt Juve to recall him, bringing the youngster into a dominant squad in the hope that he could learn from the high-calibre players surrounding him.
That is certainly a view shared by Rugani—a keen and willing student—as he discussed the various qualities of the team’s “BBC” trio in an interview with Sky Italia back in April (h/t Football Italia): "They’re three unbelievable defenders who have the perfect mix of attributes. You’ve the phenomenal concentration levels of Barzagli, the physicality and grit of Chiellini and in Bonucci, you’ve a strong character and great technical ability to build up the play from the back."
Yet just what is he learning? The table below shows his per-game statistics in various categories, with the most obvious decrease coming in his number of clearances. Falling from 6.9 in 2014/15 to 2.8 last term, his composure on the ball has improved due to the increased faith he has in his team-mates.
While there is no parallel jump in his number of passes, it must be remembered that Empoli were a phenomenally good side in possession under now-Napoli boss Maurizio Sarri, meaning Rugani was already happy to pick out team-mates before returning to Turin.
Watching him play now for the Old Lady, he is a far more accomplished all-round defender than he was even 12 months ago, with the man himself admitting he had to change his style to fulfil what was demanded of him by the Serie A champions.
“To stay in the Juventus group, you need to always be more determined, even taking risks with some interventions and getting a yellow card,” he told Tuttosport (h/t Football Italia) back in May.
“The coach has often told me to become more aggressive, not more dirty,” he added, finishing a lengthy interview by saying he was “happy with the chances given to me” in 2015/16.
With his former Italy under-21 partner Alessio Romagnoli playing regularly for AC Milan, the two Azzurrini stars have taken very different career paths. The Rossoneri man has made 40 appearances in Serie A since joining the club in the summer of 2015, playing over 2,200 minutes more than Rugani over that period.
Romagnoli is learning the hard way, thrown into action every weekend alongside a raft of ill-fitting and subpar defensive players, teaching himself to survive in a team that continue to struggle.
Meanwhile, Rugani watches on as the BBC triumvirate excel, getting a top-class education but one with limited practical application. He has been taught to play in a three-man defence as well as a back four and looks settled in either, but it remains to be seen how long he is willing to wait behind Juve’s veteran stars.
There is little doubt that patience is the key to the entire situation. The Bianconeri must hope he has the willingness to wait for space to open up as Barzagli and Chiellini show signs of ageing, while Allegri must have the faith to play Rugani more and more as that happens.
Already an accomplished and intelligent player, remaining with the Bianconeri will almost certainly guarantee him regular call-ups for the full national team along the way. The defences of Italy and Juventus have long been intertwined, with Rugani merely the latest star defender to wear both shirts with pride.
The naysayers bemoan the fact he's not playing more regularly at the age of 22, but with so much time on his side and the best teachers any young defender could have, Rugani cannot fail to improve. His chance with Juventus will come, and the evidence shows he'll be ready.
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