EXCLUSIVE Prandelli: 'Saponara and Vazquez ready for Juve and Milan'
One of the most welcome developments this season has heralded is the number of teams looking to add some quality, to find players who can make a difference between the lines. Serie A needed a solution against the doggedly tactical, defensive approach adopted by many of its managers, and the likes of Riccardo Saponara, Josip Ilicic and Franco Vazquez are spearheading this desire to rediscover the old Number 10.
Of the three, Saponara may be the most modern incarnation of the trequartista: with his excellent technique, combined with his ability to make himself useful in a defensive role, the former Milan prodigy has all the characteristics of the modern playmaker.
His main skill is his ability to escape opponents with his first touch, or force them to foul him and draw a card. Saponara is also very skilled at penetrating defences, either with the ball or without the ball, as well as using his delicate touch to craft assists.
His time at Milan, despite injuries and a system that didn't help him, still helped him develop, ensuring that Saponara has everything it takes to play for a big team, and Juventus is definitely one of them.
If Saponara is at his best behind two strikers, Ilicic and Vazquez are playing at a high level with just one striker in front of them. The Slovenian midfielder is making the most of Nikola Kalinic's movement, as well as the space he creates. Ilicic is another player who can adapt very well to the almost-hybrid nature of the trequartista role, being able to take on defensive duties so as to maintain the team's balance, but without sacrificing any creative spark.
And then there's Vazquez, who of this magic three is the one who reminds me most of the Old Number 10's: more composed, less committed to defensive duties with the freedom to roam around the pitch, the Italo-Argentine has great vision, who has done a great job even after losing the more mobile Pablo Dybala and inheriting a more static striker in Alberto Gilardino.
Vazquez is absolutely ready for a big team, if Milan were to bet on him they wouldn't be making a mistake, because he has a great instinctive read on the development of an attack, and is great at providing assists. He also has a more 'modern' side, namely the ability to take hits and not be dominated physically.
And then there are the exceptions, namely made in Italy players like Lorenzo Insigne and Domenico Berardi, good wingers who are very good at taking on opponents, and who play well both in deep positions and by cutting towards the middle.
What matters is that Italy is finally putting the emphasis on youth, quality and creativity, starting from the youth level upwards.
