Juventus manager Max Allegri confirms Miralem Pjanic, Medhi Benatia will start against Tottenham

The good thing about Max Allegri press conferences is that sometimes he’s not afraid to tell the press that he’s in no mood to talk about something. On Monday in Australia, that topic was any kind of potential moves on the summer transfer market. Max wasn’t having any of it, so the press rightfully let it be and that was that.

So that left Mr. Allegri to speak solely about Juventus’ game about Tottenham a little over 24 hours later. And speak about he did.

The big development to come out of the latest Allegri appearance in front of a microphone with the Australian press was who would be playing from the start and what formation the team will likely be lining up in against Spurs the next day. The main part of it includes three senior squad players who didn’t step onto the field in Juventus’ shootout loss to Melbourne Victory — summer signings Miralem Pjanic and Medhi Benatia as well as midfielder Roberto Pereyra.

And when it comes to what formation Juventus’ third-year manager will be using against Spurs, this is what he had this to say:

So Pjanic, Benatia and a four-man defense. Things will certainly be looking a little bit different compared to Juve’s first game in Australia. That’s not a bad thing, obviously, But that’s also what the preseason is for — not just to get match fitness up and prepare the players physically, but to also have the chance to experiment with things in games that don’t mean anything in the standings. There’s no risk in Allegri going between a four-man defense and 3-5-2 formation right now.

Not only will it be interesting to see who Allegri pairs Benatia with in the center of that anticipated four-man defense — my money’s on Daniele Rugani because that’s the logical choice given the circumstances — but also important to see where Pjanic is fielded. Is he going to be the regista? Will he play alongside somebody else who is the regista? This will be a big clue as to what Allegri has in store for Pjanic during — and potentially after — Claudio Marchisio’s injury absence.

Oh, and there’s also this little observation from one of our Twitter friends who is currently watching Juventus’ training session at AAMI Park.

That’s ... interesting. I guess that’s something to keep an eye on the rest of the preseason considering that the main first team options at right back that we all think of, Stephan Lichtsteiner and Dani Alves, are currently on holiday. Could Alex Sandro actually play at right back against Spurs (or down the road)? That’s why we’re going to watch, folks. It’s a pretty unique thing considering what kind of left back he is, that’s for sure.

Oh yeah, there’s also this little thing to be happy about: It’s just nice to be talking tactics and where players going to be played for a change in the middle of the transfer rumored-filled rush we’re currently in. It’s just another sign that we’re getting closer and closer to both the start of the 2016-17 season and the summer transfer window being shut.