Former Juventus Chairman Says Miralem Pjanic 'As Soft as Mozzarella' in Midfield

Miralem Pjanic "seems to be as soft as mozzarella" in Juventus' midfield, according to the Old Lady's former chairman, Giovanni Cobolli Gigli. 

Juve dropped down to second in the Serie A table after Week 23 of the 2019-20 season following their shock 2-1 defeat away at Hellas Verona and Inter Milan's stunning comeback win over AC Milan:

"

This is the #SerieATIM standings after Matchday 23! #WeAreCalcio pic.twitter.com/qgEl6kZ2Li

— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) February 9, 2020"

They will still fancy themselves to go on and win a ninth consecutive Scudetto this term, however.

But Cobolli Gigli, who was chairman of the Turin giants in the wake of the Calciopoli scandal between 2006 and 2009, has identified Pjanic as a weak link in Maurizio Sarri's side, per Radio Sportiva (h/t Goal):

"The difficulty of the midfield is psychological. Pjanic seems to be as soft as mozzarella. He looks tired, and perhaps in need of a rest. The midfield problem has to be solved."

Pjanic, 29, signed for Juventus in 2016 on the back of a 2015-16 campaign with Roma in which he netted 10 goals and provided 12 assists in 33 Serie A appearances.

Purely on a statistical basis, he has never been able to match those numbers with Juve. In 2019-20, he has three goals and two assists in 21 outings in the Italian top flight, with his last contribution to a goal coming in November's win at Atalanta.

Given that he largely operates in a deep-lying playmaker role, his lack of goals and assists would be acceptable if he was pulling the strings from the middle of the park.

But a passing accuracy of just 75 per cent against Verona, the lowest in Juve's starting XI outside of goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, is indicative of a player lacking in confidence:

Sarri does have options in his squad if he wants to give Pjanic some time to rest, but it would mean putting his faith in the likes of Aaron Ramsey, Adrien Rabiot and Rodrigo Bentancur.

Defeats in Juve's last two away games have seen them dragged back into a fierce title race that also includes Lazio.

They are back in league action at home on Sunday against relegation-battling Brescia, who are without a win in eight games.