Igor Tudor Races Against Time

ROME, MONDAY – After achieving a sweet result in his debut match, Igor Tudor's journey as the new coach of Juventus began to face a tough road when they were held to a 1-1 draw by AS Roma in their second match. With only seven matches remaining in the Italian League, Tudor is inevitably racing against time, considering the many unresolved issues Juventus still needs to address.

Juventus' low goal productivity is one of the many priority things that Tudor must solve. That is why he implemented a slightly different playing style from his predecessor, Thiago Motta. If Motta guided Juventus to become a team that was strong in ball possession, Tudor changed it with a more direct playing style (directly attacking).

The main reason for Tudor's change in approach was to maximize attacking efficiency. Tudor intended to reduce the amount of time Juventus spent in the build-up phases. However, the changes Tudor brought were not instantaneous. Juventus players actually needed more time to adopt the playing style that Tudor wanted.

Two goals in Tudor's first two matches serve as evidence. In his debut match as coach, Tudor led Juventus to a resurgence by securing a 1-0 victory over Genoa. However, Juventus' goal-scoring momentum has yet to flow freely, as evidenced by a 1-1 draw against the home team Roma at the Stadio Olimpico on Monday (7/4/2025) early morning WIB, despite Tudor urging his players to play aggressively from the start.

As a result, Juventus managed to take the lead through a powerful low shot by Manuel Locatelli in the 40th minute. This was a special moment for Locatelli, as he scored his first goal for Juventus this season.

However, Juventus's joy was short-lived as Eldor Shomurodov scored the equalizing goal nine minutes later, capitalizing on a chaotic situation from a corner kick. The goal demonstrated Shomurodov's clinical ability when given the chance to play. The Uzbekistan-born striker scored the goal just three minutes after coming onto the field as a substitute.

"I really liked the first half, where we worked hard and did some interesting things. Roma changed their system after the break. They scored through a corner kick, but I feel we finished well and should have won. We always want to win, but considering our recent performance and Roma's streak of seven consecutive victories, the draw still gives us confidence. We are on the right track," said Tudor, as quoted by Football Italia.

To support his direct attacking style, Tudor often instructs two Juventus defenders, Lloyd Kelly and Pierre Kalulu, to help the attack line when needed. Unlike Motta who likes the 4-2-3-1 formation, Tudor has been crazy about the 3-4-2-1 formation since he was still in charge of Lazio and Olympique Marseille.

The adjustment from previously using a four-defender system to a three-defender system cannot be immediately implemented by Juventus players. They require a bit more time to adapt to the new system.

This condition is very worrying for Tudor who does not have much time to bring Juventus to meet the target of finishing in the top four at the end of the season. Even so, the target is not impossible. The draw with Roma means Juventus now has 56 points from 31 matches. The collection of points for "The Old Lady" is the same as Bologna in fourth place. However, Bologna has the opportunity to widen the gap from Juventus because they still have one match left to play.

“I’ve only been here for 10 days, so it’s been great. But we have to focus on our job and enjoy it as much as we can. It can be a tough job because you’re always looking at the details and focusing, you don’t have a lot of time to enjoy it,” Tudor said.

Meanwhile, Locatelli feels Juventus have been able to display greater attacking intensity since Tudor took over. "When the coach came, he immediately asked us to (play) more aggressively," said Locatelli.

Playing more direct and aggressive is indeed the only choice for Tudor who is racing against time. Playing long-winded ball possession as in the Motta era is seen as irrelevant when Juventus is more concerned with results than beautiful play. (REUTERS)