Spalletti: McKennie, Cambiaso and Sarr? None of Them Will Return Tomorrow

At 02:45 Beijing time on September 7, Juventus will host Milan in the third round of Serie A. Ahead of the match, Juventus head coach Spalletti attended a press conference. This is the fourth part of the press conference.

Hello, coach. I would like to bring your attention back to the young forward Woltemade. First, I would like to confirm whether you have considered giving him some playing time in tomorrow's match—even if it is only a short substitute appearance in the second half. Secondly, during this period of training with the team, have you already conducted a comprehensive tactical assessment of him, either in your mind or through practical drills? You previously mentioned that we need to place him at a tactical point in the squad where his potential can be maximized. Have you evaluated him together with the teammates around him? For example, in certain future situations, could he partner with Kolo Muani in a two-striker system? Or would his arrival directly lead to positional and responsibility adjustments for Kolo Muani or other attacking players in the squad? In short, how exactly do you plan to use him in your tactical blueprint?

Okay. Regarding tomorrow's starting lineup, at the beginning of the match I currently do not plan to put him directly into the starting XI. However, since we chose him in the transfer market and firmly brought him here, it proves that we have 100% confidence in his talent, technical characteristics and personal qualities. Therefore, during tomorrow's match, when the situation requires it, bringing him on as a substitute to make an impact is absolutely a very likely and feasible option.

He is an attacking player who is very good at playing in a two-striker system in actual matches, because his position is not fixed and his range of movement is very large. He is always ready to make wide movements on the pitch, drop back to create space, and connect with teammates from midfield and defense. His frequent withdrawals into midfield to participate in build-up play and help create numerical advantages are also a way of using his movement to lure opposing center-backs out of their original defensive positions. Once defenders are drawn out of their defensive shape while tracking him, he can quickly turn around and make explosive forward runs at an astonishing speed, attacking the large gaps left in the defensive line. Therefore, he is fully capable of forming a perfect two-striker partnership with a second forward.

If you ask whether he can play alongside Kolo Muani in attack, my answer is that he can absolutely form a highly dangerous and even ideal attacking partnership with Muani. At the same time, he has a natural and unmatched height advantage in aerial duels and dealing with high balls, which allows us to more directly and simply choose to find him as a tactical focal point with long passes when facing high pressure from opponents and use that to break through their defensive line. Using his height advantage, he can both create headed lay-offs in attack and score directly with headers himself.

We will gradually verify these tactical details in tomorrow's actual match. In terms of personal qualities and mentality, he is an excellent, positive and likable young man. His approachability and humble competitive attitude allowed him to perfectly integrate into the Juventus family almost instantly. Therefore, the most urgent and important task for him now is to simply play the upcoming matches well. His appearance and debut will start tomorrow.

By the way, before ending today's press conference, I remember that the Sky Sport reporter left a curious detail unanswered in the previous question, right? The first question was about our current injury list...

Yes, coach, I just want to ask about the specific situations of those injured players whose availability is uncertain. I mainly want to know whether any of the key players currently reported as doubtful—such as McKennie, Cambiaso and Sarr—could make a last-minute return and be included in the match squad for tomorrow's important clash, apart from those who are already known to be definitely unavailable due to more serious injuries.

The answer is cruel: none of them will return tomorrow, and they will all miss the match. In addition, Cabal has recently suffered an injury. Cabal, Cambiaso, Sarr, McKennie, and Thuram, who everyone is already very familiar with—these injured players' names are all well known.

Yes, at this stage we do have a lot of injury problems. During this period, the number of injured players is indeed somewhat troubling. However, we can only hope that in the coming week we can successfully welcome back two or three key starters at full fitness, because the team really, really needs their technical qualities for the upcoming congested schedule and major matches.