Continuing the journey through some of the more interesting goalkeeper situations in some of the top teams in Europe we’ve come to one of the most unique situations anywhere in the world. Goalkeeper for Juventus has always been a coveted position, and for years on end, the post was held down by some of the top names in the game. For an entire generation, it was easy to decipher who Juve’s top option at goalkeeper was. None other than the once best goalkeeper in the world Gianluigi Buffon. At the ripe old age of 43, Gigi is still at Juventus and one could argue when it comes to pure talent and skill he is still the top option for the club.
Of course, these days Gigi is not the uncontested starter for the old lady. The future of the goal though is not a place that Juventus management is looking towards constantly. At least that’s what it seems like when you look at the median age for the squad. In goal obviously the 43 years of age of Buffon do hamper the average. Yet Juve features two goalkeepers on the active Serie A squad list that were born after the year 2000. Therefore, there is some hope. I want to cover a couple of things in this article other than the top 3 goalkeepers at Juve this season. Looking to the future the situation looks a bit grim. But I will venture to make some suggestions on what Juve should be looking for.
Starting Goalkeeper Juventus For 2021: Wojciech Szczęsny
The polish international Wojciech Szczęsny has been a fixture in goal at Juventus since the 2017/2018 season. He was certainly brought in to inject some younger blood into the Juve lineup as the years began to pile up on Buffon. In Szczęsny Juve have found a solid starter that has allowed them to run through the Serie A on cruise control for years on end. Yet, it seems that this year their reign is going to come to an end. At only 30 years old Szczęsny is a goalkeeper who has been around the block already. In his stint at Arsenal in his early 20’s he struggled to be the consistent figure that Arsene Wegner was looking for at that time.
When he moved to Roma later in his career he found consistent playing time as well as form. A big frame keeper standing at 196cm (6.4ft) he has a good presence between the sticks. Some of the knocks on him earlier in his career were that he didn’t have the best hands in the world. Ball security wasn’t necessarily one of his strong points. As he has matured we’ve seen him improve quite a bit on that. I find it very interesting that some of the same things that I said about Mendy in the Chelsea article are true about Szczęsny as well. He’s not spectacular pretty much in any way. Yet, he is a consistent figure and that’s what a team like Juve are looking for.
At 30 years old and no real competition from younger keepers in his rear view mirrors it seems that Szczęsny could hold onto the position for quite some time. At least as long as Juve management feel that they are still ok with their safe and decent option at goalkeeper. When you look at even the highlight reel for Szczęsny that I’ve posted below you can see exactly what type of keeper he is. He is the traditional between the sticks inside the box goalkeeper. He uses his big frame to cover a large part of the goal. Yet, you probably won’t see him playing off the line all that much. I’ve said this a couple times, it’s not bad to play to your strengths. Yet, Szczęsny isn’t the most modern goalkeeper out there.
Second String Goalkeeper Juventus 2022 : Gianluigi Buffon
Perhaps it’s his search for the Champions League title that has eluded him his entire career or it’s just the fact that he truly enjoys what he does, but at 43 Gianluigi Buffon is still a goalkeeper for Juventus in 2021. No longer the undisputed number one to this point in the season Buffon has been limited to 5 Serie A matches, 1 Champions League Match and 4 Copa Italia fixtures. I really wanted to go back and look at the film of his current play and give an unbiased account of what you can really expect to see when Buffon steps on the pitch in 2021.
The first thing that I would say is that as with all of the older keepers getting up from a save is tougher. Also, what happens is that sometimes as you fall it’s a bit harder for older keepers or some of us in Sunday league play to keep perfect form on the ground after a save to have that “clean” motion to be able to get back up. Interestingly enough though his reflex saves at 43 are still amazing. He’s always had a bit of an unthortodoxed style to him. Some of those falls where I’m mentioning he’s not as clean as you would like to be that’s sometimes his style. What he’ll do is dive with one hand skimming the ground and the other one overhead. This allows you to react better to a bad bounce or a late shift in the trajectory of the ball. Not the best technique for ball security.
One of the things that really jumped out to me is that although he is certainly more of a traditional between the stick goalkeeper his timing to come off the line and cut off the angles in one v one situations is still great. Obviously, the speed isn’t there, that’s really what makes his timing much better. If there is one knock on his game that I would have to mention it’s not ball security. He deflects a lot of balls that he maybe could be catching. At this point though saying that I feel really picky. I’m just saying it because I promised I wasn’t going to be biased!
Third String Goalkeeper Juventus 2021 : Carlo Pinsoglio
To be completely honest with you here, I don’t know a lot about the actual type of goalkeeper that Carlo Pinsoglio is. From the recent pictures that I was able to see I know that he’s balding and he looks older than Buffon! At 30 years old and having not been able to really compete for the starting job at Juve for his whole career it doesn’t seem like he is going to be at the club for much longer. He has had stints on loan to different teams mostly in Serie B where he did rack up playing time. Juve have kept him on the payroll for ages presumably as an insurance policy just in case some of their guys go down.
He hasn’t played a game in Serie A for Juve since the 2019/2020 season. He ranked up a single appearance in that season. He only has 3 senior team caps for Juve even though he’s been part of the organization for the better part of ten years. As I mentioned he had stints at different Serie B teams in the early 2010’s. It doesn’t seem though that he’s a goalkeeper that is really going to be able to compete for the starting job any time soon. The age certainly doesn’t help him. I wouldn’t not be surprised to see him get released prior to next season.
Up And Coming Juventus Goalkeepers
There are two names on the current Juventus squad list that we may want to watch out for. Franco Israel is a Uruguayan goalkeeper born in 2000 that is featured on the first team squad list. Although he sees his main action with the Juve U-23 team that plays in Serie C. He recently had a pretty complex injury. He broke some facial bones in a clash with a teammate during training at the beginning of 2021. That has certainly hurt his playing time, but there are a lot of good reviews on this young player. He plays for the Uruguay national team as well.
Giovanni Garofani is essentially the number 5 goalkeeper that Juve have registered to their Serie A squad list. He is an Italian born goalkeeper that plays for the under 19 team at Juventus. He’s racked up 9 appearances for that squad in regular league play. While also boasting 1 UEFA Youth League appearance. I don’t want to be negative when talking about the development of these two young keepers. It’s just too early to really tell what they could become. What is clear is that Juventus does not have a Gianluigi Donaruma situation brewing.
What The Future Looks Like For Juventus
The tenure of Wojciech Szczęsny at Juve has been solid, but nothing too spectacular. I do feel that he’s a very clear cut between the stick goalkeeper. Again, this is not a knock on him, but if the season doesn’t go well for Juve as it’s looking like it won’t there could be a manager change. That new manager not named Andrea Pirlo could be looking to bring on maybe a more high profile goalkeeper. If the news out of Barcelona is true and they don’t have money to keep a lot of their players, how would a Marc Andre Ter Stegen move to Juve sound? It could go well for all parties involved. Juve get a high profile keeper that is the same type of between the sticks keeper, but with better hands and just more spectacular save ability than Szczęsny.
Even though he spends most of his time on the bench these days the presence of Buffon could be something that is holding the club back a bit. I hate to say it because as a fan you would love to continue to see Gigi press on well into his mid 40’s. Particularly if he is still able to produce the type of performances that he’s been able to put together. It’s certainly remarkable in my eyes what he’s doing at this age. Yet, his presence may not be one that a high profile goalkeeper wants to deal with. Gigi recently said that the idea is to press on at least until 2023. If Pirlo gets sacked though, there is a chance that management will want to look in a new direction. Away from the old guard that Buffon represents.
Should Szczęsny Still Be Starting As Goalkeeper For Juventus?
It’s a tough spot to be in. I don’t think that Juve’s middle of the pact form in Serie A can be directly attributed to the way that Szczęsny has played throughout the year. Again though, he is just one of those guys that is decent, not special. When you need him to actually take over a game and save some of those points he doesn’t constantly answer the bell. As a fan seeing how things are going, I would love a turn towards more Buffon in goal. At this point in time though, I have no idea what playing every week would look like for the 43 year old. It could expose some of the natural deficiencies that come with age. In a way the fact that Gigi has continued to play at a respectable level is what keeps him going. Putting him out there too often could expose him a bit.
In short, I don’t think that Pirlo has too much of an option. Buffon is playing more of an assistant manager role at this point rather than being the active goalkeeper Juventus needs. Also, I don’t think that the burden of the situation should fall on Szczęsny. Having said all of this I would not be surprised if Juve is in the market for a top tier goalkeeper next summer. Szczęsny is good enough to hold down the position. However, he is nowhere near some of the top goalkeepers in Europe in my opinion.
