Andrea Cambiaso: The Present and Future of Juventus’ Defense
Club: Juventus
Nationality: Italy
Position: LB, RB, LM, RM
Preferred Foot: Both
Height: 5’9”/182cm
Age: 24
Strengths: ambipedal, crossing, passing, dribbling, turn radius, athleticism, press resistance, 1v1 defending
Areas for Development: defensive positioning
At 24 years of age, Andrea Cambiaso has enjoyed a breakthrough campaign for Juventus, becoming a key figure under Massimiliano Allegri and earning a call-up to the Euros. An ambipedal, physically gifted fullback who’s capable of inverting into central areas and holding his own in defensive duels, Cambiaso looks set to become a vital cog for the present and future of both Juve and Italy.
Born in Genoa, Cambiaso would join Genoa’s academy in 2015 and hone his skills on loan at Albissola, Savona, and Alessandria. It was here at Alessandria where Cambiaso suffered an ACL tear against Juventus’ U23 side, sidelining him for the second half of the 2019/20 campaign. He would head out to Empoli for the following campaign, whilst 2021/22 would see him make 26 appearances for his boyhood club in Serie A.
With Genoa suffering relegation to the second tier, Juve pounced on the Grifone’s situation and signed Cambiaso for €8.5 million. They would immediately loan him out to Bologna, with Cambiaso filling Aaron Hickey’s void and emerging as a regular performer in defense under Thiago Motta — the same manager that he will be plying his trade under in the 2024/25 season at Juventus.
Cambiaso is uber-press resistant due to 2 main qualities: ambipedal ability and a small turning radius. His two-footed ability is clear as day when you watch Cambiaso. Comfortable receiving, turning, passing, crossing on either foot to equally as good top standard, his crossing in particular is seriously good. Cambiaso has the deadly trio of crosses: whipped, clipped and chipped. The fact he can execute all these on both feet makes him so dangerous in wide areas and half-spaces.
The Italian’s pinpoint crossing means if you partner him with a dominant aerial duel winner in the front line and advanced runners, he’ll create dangerous chances combining with them. If he can increase the volume of his crosses, he could become an even more dangerous option in defense.
Secondly: turning radius. Cambiaso has excellent close control whilst turning on the ball. When under pressure, he can escape tight spaces due to this tight turning radius. Not only does this make him press resistant, but Cambiaso carries the ball with great power and purpose. Cambiaso is a progressive player whether it’s through his passing or carrying.
Juve’s fullback has an impressive athletic profile, with strong stamina to cover a lot of ground and the physicality to win duels. When defending, he uses this upper body strength to muscle attackers off the ball. 1v1 defending is an area Cambiaso has improved in a lot at due to his time under Motta nd now under Allegri – two ‘defence-first’ coaches.
Cambiaso is good at not rushing to slide in but also staying tight to the attacker to be aggressive in congesting and winning the duel. Defensively, he occasionally lacks concentration due to being out of position after inverting, which can leave larger areas free for attackers to exploit and higher xG chances to be created. However, this is partly down to the system around Cambiaso.
His on-the-ball ability is too good to not allow him to invert and have full creative freedom. In order to do so, he needs better defensive protection around him. That means a defensive midfielder and a wide center back comfortable defending large a space to cover for him.
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Whilst Juve have already added Tiago Djaló to their defensive core, they could be in need of another like Riccardo Calafiori or Edmond Tapsoba who boasts strong recovery pace, physical prowess, technical security on the ball, and the ability to defend the wide channels.
Moreover, it seems that the Bianconeri will be adding Aston Villa’s Douglas Luiz to their squad, whilst Enzo Barrenechea and Samuel Iling-Junior will head the other way. This addition could enable Cambiaso the freedom to create in central areas and be in closer proximity to his teammates, thus allowing them to interchange positions and play quick, fluid passes, whilst his quality in 1v1 duels would see Juve retain its defensive solidity.
From Andrea Cambiaso (24) to Kenan Yıldız (19), from Timothy Weah (24) to Nicolò Fagioli (23), from Dušan Vlahović (24) to Fabio Miretti (20), the future looks brighter than ever at Juve, and after the appointment of 41-year-old Thiago Motta, they have secured the services of one of Europe’s most promising managers. Having missed out on the league title to Inter, Milan, Napoli and Inter over the past four years, could 2024/25 be the season that the Scudetto returns to Turin?
By: Ben Mattinson / @Ben_Mattinson_
Featured Image: @GabFoligno / SOPA Images / Light Rocket