Is Fernando Llorente Still the Right Choice Up Front for Juventus?

Fernando Llorente had more reason than most to wince at the new green kit that Juventus wore against Atletico Madrid. He had donned that same colour the last time he faced Los Colchoneros, back when he was representing Athletic Bilbao in the 2012 Europa League final. It turned out to be one of the most painful nights of his career, as his team was thrashed 3-0.

He left Athletic a year later, joining Juventus on a free transfer after running out his contract with Athletic. Llorente’s final season in La Liga had been a miserable one, as he was dropped to the bench and vilified by supporters for seeking a move away.

At one point, graffiti was sprayed onto the window of the club’s shop reading, “Death to Llorente, the b-----d Spaniard” (via The Score). By defining the striker's nationality thus, the artist was accusing him of betraying his roots. Athletic are fiercely proud of the fact that they only sign players from the Basque Country—the aspiring nation state to which their club belongs.

Few outsiders, though, would blame Llorente for seeking pastures new. Twenty-eight years old by the summer of 2013, the striker had given his entire career to Athletic and their associated feeder clubs. He had scored more than 100 goals for them across all competitions but never won a single piece of club silverware. Why should he not allow himself a bigger stage while he still could?

Juventus seemed like the perfect fit. A side that had already won back-to-back Serie A titles was lacking only a sharper edge up front. Arriving in the same summer as Carlos Tevez, it was immediately suggested that Llorente’s height and strength in the air would make him the perfect foil to the Argentinian—giving the club a little-and-large partnership reminiscent of club greats John Charles and Omar Sivori.

So it would prove. By the end of their first season together, Tevez and Llorente had combined for 35 league goals, firing Juventus to a record-breaking 102 points in Serie A. But one concern remained. For some reason this partnership, so devastating domestically, was not functioning to the same level in Europe, where Tevez and Llorente managed just three goals between them in a combined 22 appearances.

Much blame was assigned to the Argentinian. Prior to Juventus’s Europa League semi-final against Benfica, he had not scored in continental competition for more than five years. For Tevez, this appeared to have become a mental block—unlike Llorente, who scored in each of Juventus’s two Champions League group games against Real Madrid.

And yet, one season later, it is the Basque player’s position in the team that is coming under discussion. Because while Tevez has picked up where he left off, scoring six times in as many games—including two in the Champions League win over Malmo—Llorente has struggled, failing to find the net even once in his seven appearances so far. Nor has he yet provided an assist.

A closer look at his performances raises additional concerns. According to the stats website Squawka, Llorente is putting just 38 percent of his shots on target, compared to 64 percent last season.  

Caution must be exercised when observing such a small sample size, and yet even the player’s manager seems troubled. In the build-up to the Atletico Madrid game, Massimiliano Allegri confessed that he was having a hard time deciding whether to stick with Llorente or give a chance to summer signing Alvaro Morata (quotes in Italian, via Corriere della Sera).

Although he continues to voice public support for Llorente, some are beginning to wonder whether the striker really fits the new coach’s schemes. Allegri has sought evolution, not revolution, since taking over this summer, but while Juve’s formations look much the same, the approach is noticeably different.

Under Antonio Conte, the Bianconeri sought to outwork their opponents, hitting fast on the counter and playing at a relentlessly high tempo. Allegri has instead encouraged them to slow things down and cherish the ball. It is no accident that Juventus enjoyed 64 percent possession away to Atletico Madrid. 

Tevez has thrived in this new system, telling Gazzetta dello Sport (quotes in Italian) that, while his old manager liked him playing close to goal, his new one has encouraged him to drop deep and change things up a little more. 

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

But Llorente is not feeling similar benefits. Conte adjusted his team’s tactics around the striker, encouraging his wing-backs to push on more and send in crosses that would exploit the player’s height. There has been less of this approach under Allegri. Squawka’s stats show that, while Llorente is winning a greater percentage of his headers this year, he is also having less opportunities to do so. 

Llorente’s backers will note that he made a slow start last season, too, scoring only twice before November. But the mitigating circumstances were greater back then, as he adjusted to playing for a new team in an unfamiliar league. 

It is also true that Juventus did not have the same competition for places up front. Morata has played just 55 minutes for Juventus since completing his €20 million move from Real Madrid, but scored his first goal against Atalanta last weekend. Fellow new arrival Kingsley Coman was one of the best players on the pitch as the Bianconeri beat Chievo in their season opener, but has been restricted to a pair of substitute’s appearances since. 

Perhaps now is not the time to tinker. Sunday’s game against Roma is the most important of the season so far for Juventus, with Serie A already looking like a two-horse race between those two teams. But Llorente cannot retain his position in the side indefinitely on past achievements alone.

Because the fact is that Juventus lost to Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night, failing to score just as Llorente’s Athletic team had done in that final two years ago. The Italian champions have now managed just a single draw in their last five Champions League away games. There is more to Juventus’s European malaise than the colour of those shirts.