Player Focus: Fernando Llorente - The Right Man for Juventus
Shortly after he had returned to Juventus, Antonio Conte led his team south to the vociferous cauldron that Napoli call home, where the Bianconeri hadn’t secured a victory in over a decade. Inspired by their passionate home crowd, the Partenopei sprang into a 3-1 lead and were clearly in the ascendency. But when Marcelo Estigarribia grabbed a second goal for the visitors, the Juve supporters believed they could secure a positive result. Stunned by the inspired play of their opponents, the Napoli fans fell silent and from the opposite end a stirring chant arose.
“Forza Juve dai dai dai, non mollare mai mai mai!” yelled the Juventus fans, an old song they have sung for years, imploring their heroes to never give up. Simone Pepe obliged, slamming the ball past the goalkeeper to earn Juve their first Serie A point in Naples since Conte patrolled the midfield. It was a match that epitomised the rekindled spirit the coach had ignited in his team, and would be increasingly prevalent as they marched undefeated to their first league title since the ignominy of the Calciopoli scandal.
Those who hold the club close welcomed this return to their old values, and it seems they have taken that same approach into the transfer market. Having reclaimed their place at the top of the Serie A standings, the lack of a regular goal scorer was identified as their biggest weakness, and Beppe Marotta duly made a €16 million bid for Spanish striker Fernando Llorente. Along with Fabio Paratici and Conte, the Director had identified the Athletic Club striker as their chief target but, despite knowing his contract would expire in twelve months time, the Basque side were determined to hold onto their star.
He had stalled on signing a new contract and when sections of the San Mames crowd booed and heckled him, they turned a stage Llorente had graced for so long into a place he had no desire to play. His relationship with the club deteriorated and he stormed away from the training ground after arguing with coach Marcelo Bielsa. Marotta lodged a second bid in the January transfer window which prompted Athletic President Josu Urrutia to reiterate that he had no intention of selling the player, admitting “it will not please everyone.” Undeterred, and knowing he was now allowed to discuss terms with other clubs, Marotta opened talks with Llorente and soon Juventus announced the player had agreed terms. They would make a final offer to make the move immediate, but the stubborn Urrutia refused. Marotta had shown that he too could adhere to the ‘non mollare mai’ mindset.
That same spirit is also very evident in Llorente, who left his family home at just twelve years old to pursue his dream of playing for Athletic. He struggled to cope with homesickness, his own rapidly changing physique and the emotional upheaval, but the young Fernando would not give up. Working hard to hone his skills and technique, he stepped onto a pitch to represent Los Leones in January 2005, making his debut against Espanyol. Three days later he smashed a hat-trick to help the club demolish Lanzarotte and ended the season with six goals to his name. Over the next two seasons he failed to establish himself, and as the summer of 2007 began, he had scored a mere twelve goals in his 69 appearances.
Then, Joaquin Caparros was appointed and Llorente’s life changed almost immediately. The former Sevilla boss showed his belief in the ability of the now 6’5” (1.95m) striker and made him the focus of the side. His faith was quickly repaid as Llorente scored twelve goals, including strikes against Barcelona, Villarreal, Valencia and Atlético Madrid. In 2008-09 he would improve further still, netting eighteen times as he helped the club to the Final of the Copa del Rey and a place in Europe.
The bigger stage proved to suit Llorente and he netted eight goals in continental competition as part of a career best tally of 23. Following Presidential elections, Bielsa replaced Caparros, and the Argentine coach continued the work of his predecessor in placing the striker at the centre of his plans. It is perhaps in this season we can best see how and where Juventus can utilise Llorente. The tactical awareness of Bielsa is comparable to the attention to detail seen on a regular basis in Serie A, and the changes Conte needs to make in order to compete in the Champions League.
"I have seen Llorente play and he is a great striker. He is physically strong and excellent with the ball at his feet, too. He is unlike any other attacker in Italy as he is powerful, but knows how to use his feet!" – Arturo Vidal
Aside from his preferred 3-3-1-3 formation, Bielsa utilised the same 4-3-3 and 3-5-2 frameworks Conte deploys. Llorente thrived as the reference point of all three and, despite first impressions, the man known as el Rey León – ‘The Lion King’ – proved to be so much more than the battering ram striker he first appears to be. Under Caparros, Athletic had played much like Inter under Roberto Mancini, hitting the ball up to their tall striker and hoping he could grab a goal. Like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Llorente often did just that, but no longer asked to be the only forward, he was used as a ‘false nine’ to utilise his underappreciated creativity, involving the greater number of players running off him. As Carlo Ancelotti has done with the Swede, a more sophisticated coach showcased Llorente’s ability to link with his teammates.
His pass completion rate grew under Bielsa, rising from 62.9% in 2010-11 to 70.4% in the most recent campaign. That greater care for the ball, a staple of both Bielsa and Conte’s teams was also reflected in the amount of times he lost possession, as the striker went from losing the ball due to a poor first touch 84 times in 10-11 to 53 in 11-12. That bodes well for his prospective partners in the Bianconeri attack who will benefit from Llorente’s skill, while his ability to hold up the ball and bring the midfield into play will be vital at Juventus. Having been drilled by Bielsa, the forward will also happily join his new teammates in implementing the high octane pressing often deployed by Juventus.
Dribbling, passing and retaining possession are however, not the reasons Marotta and Conte chased the Basque striker so hard for so long. He is in Turin for one reason and one reason only; goals. After consecutive seasons in which their leading scorer netted just 10 league goals, Juventus are desperate for someone to regularly finish the chances the team creates. This term saw them net 71 league goals, good enough for the third best tally in Serie A, but it must be noted those came from an incredible 699 shots –bettered only by Liverpool’s 739 across Europe’s top five leagues – and only a minor improvement on the previous year, in which they scored 68 times from 726 shots.
Having his the target with 258 of those attempts this season – a meagre 36.9% - it is here they require the most help and improvement. Llorente himself has, over the past three seasons, taken 239 shots and kept 84 of them on target, which is actually worse than the Bianconeri at 35.1%. Yet, he has scored 39 goals from those efforts, finding the back of the net once every 6.1 shots. Comparing that to Juve’s main strikers over their title winning seasons, Mirko Vucinic, Fabio Quagliarella and Alessandro Matri have needed 10.7, 9.2 and 5.7 shots for each goal they have scored in that time. Llorente’s 16.3% conversion rate over the last 3 seasons should bring added threat to a Juve team that scored just 10.2% of their chances this season.
Because of Llorente’s lengthy layoff however, Conte will need some combination of those players to carry the side in the early months of next season as the Spaniard contends with a new language, culture and style of play. Helping him with that transition is Vicente del Bosque’s decision not to include him in the Spain squad for this summer’s Confederations Cup. Instead, the 28-year-old will join Juventus for pre-season training at the first available opportunity, a vital ingredient in his adjustment as one could trace Eljero Elia’s failure to make an impression in Turin directly to him not being present during that preparation period.
Proven to be able to thrive under pressure and never afraid of a struggle, earning the trust of Conte will be vital to the Basque player as he looks to become as important to the Bianconeri as he was to Los Leones. With the coach, club and striker all sharing the storied ‘non mollare mai’ approach so appreciated by supporters, Fernando Llorente will hope to become the King of Juventus Stadium.
