Luciano Spalletti believes Juventus forward Kenan Yildiz has the same unpredictable qualities as Paris Saint-Germain forward Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, while saying Dusan Vlahovic’s biggest difficulty is finding the right emotional balance.
The Juventus coach made the comments in a lengthy interview with Tuttosport, reflecting on the players he has helped develop throughout his career.
Spalletti has coached several notable talents, including Kvaratskhelia before his emergence as a Ballon d’Or contender at Paris Saint-Germain and Mohamed Salah during his time at Roma, before the Egypt international became a Liverpool legend.
“A coach must create a sense of ease, but what counts is getting the players together thinking the same way,” Spalletti told Tuttosport.
“We mustn’t just make a crude combination of individuals, but pull something extra out of each of them. I feel some of the players I made a real impact on were David Pizarro at Udinese, Stanislav Lobotka and Kvara at Napoli, Salah at Roma and Joao Cancelo at Inter.”
Spalletti said Kvaratskhelia had to adapt to a different style of football after arriving at Napoli, while insisting Salah’s natural ability deserves most of the credit for his success.
“Kvaratskhelia was coming from a different style of football and we helped him adapt,” he said. “Salah, I should be clear, hands a Ballon d’Or to anyone who has the good fortune to coach him.”
He also explained why he moved Pizarro from the trequartista role to a position in front of the defence at Udinese.
“I was convinced that Pizarro would have far more impact playing in front of the defence than his usual role as a trequartista, because you get 300 per cent more touches there,” Spalletti said. “He could create spaces in a crowd and this is how David got to show his talent.”
At Napoli, Spalletti felt Lobotka needed confidence as much as tactical guidance.
“When I arrived at Napoli, Lobotka had been practically forgotten, and I think he too had forgotten how good he was,” he said. “Sometimes you just need to reassure a player that you have chosen him, to give him that confidence.”
Spalletti’s assessment of Yildiz and Vlahovic
Yildiz is currently recovering from knee surgery, but Spalletti believes the Turkiye international possesses a rare ability to disrupt defensive organisation.
“Yildiz puts the chrome on top of football, he makes it shine,” he said. “His every move is ingenious and breaks the system, so when he starts, even he doesn’t necessarily have a plan of what he’ll do next.
“Sometimes in training I see the defender predict his movement, and still can’t stop him. He has the madness of invention.”
Spalletti considers Yildiz comparable with Kvaratskhelia, although he believes the Juventus player needs more experience.
“For me, he is comparable to Kvaratskhelia. He needs to play a bit more, but I see similarities in the unpredictability, the way he stays outside of the rules and timing you expect in football,” he said.
“He’s a lovely guy, the boy next door type, but also a leader, one that doesn’t need to talk much.”
Asked which player he regretted not fully understanding, Spalletti named Adam Ounas at Napoli.
As for Vlahovic, he said: “He still needs to find that personal balance within himself, because he causes his own trouble. Giving it too much gas is just as bad as not giving enough. It’s a question of balance, finding the right emotional temperature.”
