Juventus have reportedly decided to move forward for Arkadiusz Milik in a bid to boost their attack, but the Pole won’t solve their fundamental issues, Apollo Heyes suggests.
The Bianconeri’s horrendously dull 0-0 draw with Sampdoria yesterday is the perfect example of the issues facing Massimiliano Allegri’s side this season; Juventus were absolutely dire in possession, something which has been widely mocked on social media, and star striker Dusan Vlahovic only had nine touches all match, hardly making a difference.
Considering the problems on display then, it’s curious to see that the Old Lady are focusing on picking up another striker, especially one so similar to Vlahovic. The risk is that adding Milik will do little to increase their goal production, a transfer market misstep the club can hardly afford this late in the summer.
Looking at their stats from last season, the two players draw parallels in a number of areas; Milik had 0.43 non-penalty expected goals per 90 minutes last season, essentially the same as Vlahovic’s 0.42. Both players had similar expected assists per 90 (0.18 vs 0.10), and both averaged a similar number of shots on average (3.38 per 90 for the Pole to 3.50 per 90 for the Serb).
The statistical similarities don’t stop there – Milik and Vlahovic both attempted a similar number of passes on average, 24.4 per 90 to 19.14 per 90, and these passes progressed play a similar amount, 33.0 yards per 90 to 34.9 yards per 90. Finally, both players averaged essentially the same number of goal-creating actions per 90 minutes, 0.38 to 0.40.
These stats suggest that the two players played an incredibly similar role to each other last season, that of a traditional number 9. The departure of Alvaro Morata has pushed Juventus into picking up Milik, but the Spaniard was a significantly more productive player for his teammates than the Pole, even if he was less prolific.
Juventus’ issues seem fairly clear at this stage – build-up play, transitions and structure. Adding a like-for-like replacement for Vlahovic with Milik gives them a little more cover up front, but it doesn’t improve their attack particularly and almost certainly won’t produce any major benefits to their build-up and transitions.
Former Roma and Juventus coach Fabio Capello seemed equally unconvinced about the signing of Milik when speaking to Sky Sports Italia recently, underlining his doubts.
“I hear about Milik, but he’s not a player who’ll make a difference. He’s not what fans dream of seeing at Juve, he’s a good player, who can be part of the squad.”
Juventus would likely be better off focusing on another addition to the midfield, either a deep-lying playmaker who can help link up play from defence to attack or a trequartista who can support Vlahovic from a deeper position.