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After a second year of disastrously sub-par performances, faith in the bianconeri colors had begun to dim. Having failed to qualify for the Europa League, much less the Champions, Beppe Marotta had trouble attracting “top” talent to Turin. The Aguero and Giuseppe Rossi negotiations were sunk by Manchester City and Malaga spending extravaganza (albeit Rossi’s transfer was scuttled not by direct competition, but by the cession of Santi Cazorla). While other acquired players like Vucinic, Elia, Lichsteiner and Vidal were all agreed to be pretty decent players, few would qualify them as “world-class”. Come August, few fans of the black and white had any other than mediocre expectations.



Yet all that has changed. Under the cover of a state of the art Juventus Arena, the winning-est team in Italian history has surged to its rightful place at the top of the table- while currently it sits in fourth, it was in first alone before the Napoli game was cancelled.



Some of the praise can be laid at the feet of Antonio Conte. The former Juventus midfielder was part of the Marcelo Lippi side that dominated Italian and European competition in the mid-nineties, and he has branded this Juventus side with a similar attitude. Furthermore, he’s proven to be an astute modern tactician, versatile and adaptive to change. An emphasis on possession, short passing play and rapid execution has made Juventus one of the most entertaining teams to watch. While his style of play was always characterized by its attacking mentality, critics commented on his invariable use of the ‘4-2-4’ (which is in fact an untruth- it’s merely just an attacking 4-4-2).

That has been all but the case this term. 4-4-2, 4-3-3, 4-1-4-1 and 4-2-3-1 have all been been woven in at some point in time, and a starting XI is yet to be set in stone.

Actually, the only consistency really has been Juventus’ domination of its matches, as they've averaged an astounding 60 percent possession this term, the highest in Italy and 4th highest in all of Europe. Boasting a passing success rate of 84 percent, a single percentage point behind joint leaders Milan and Roma, and 16 shots per game, the Bianconeri are having a field day. On target shots, they’re second with 6 They’ve allowed the lowest number of shots per game (9), have the second highest tackles per game (24) and third highest interceptions per game (21). Also, they’ve given out the second least amount of fouls (13). They continue to score the most goals from open play (rather than on the counter or from set pieces), and have the second most short passes per game with 473, just five back from champions Milan. They also continue to supply the most through balls per game (six). Finally, they play primarily on the front half, a full 25 percent of their playing taking place in the opposition’s final third of the pitch (the second highest average in Seria A).

But Beppe Marotta, Juventus' transfer manager, also deserves a heaping load of credit. He has provided Conte with several players of quality, gotten at very reasonable prices. The following five have been particularly superb.