There Were Plenty of Positive Signs in Andrea Pirlo's Coaching Debut

Unless you were actually sad enough to read a 28-page UEFA Pro Licence dissertation online (don't you dare look at me) following his graduation from Coverciano and appointment as Juventus manager in August, Andrea Pirlo - the manager - remained an ambiguous figure.

But within 90 minutes of his managerial career, it was pretty distinct what this overwhelmingly cool string-puller would look like.

If you were to define Il Maestro's coaching debut - a comfortable 3-0 victory over a pretty pitiful Sampdoria side - two words spring to mind: flexible and fluid.

The former regista was already raising eyebrows an hour before kick-off as Juve's starting XI emerged. There were debuts for summer signings Dejan Kulusevski and Weston McKennie, while Danilo and 21-year-old Gianluca Frabbotta were handed surprise starts - the latter had made just one Serie A appearance for the Bianconeri before Sunday's clash.

The 3-5-2 appeared Pirlo's poison, but as it was swiftly discovered, the way Juve set-up depended on the phase of the game such is the flexibility of modern-day systems and formations.

"“A role in modern football is no longer a position, but a function”"

- Antonio Gagliardi

Juve similarly functioned phase-dependent in their pre-season friendly against Serie C side Novara last week, and on Sunday night, a 3-2-5 in possession morphed into a 4-4-2 during periods of sustained Sampdoria possession - which were albeit rare.

Nevertheless, it's this flexibility which makes sense of Danilo's inclusion. The Brazilian had a rather unique and important role in possession, serving on the right of the back three. He was tasked with advancing into the midfield line to alter Sampdoria's defensive block.

As a result of Danilo's movement into midfield, left midfielder Mehdi Léristo was drawn infield which opened up a passing lane for wing-back Juan Cuadrado to attack Sampdoria left-back Tommaso Augello one-v-one.

Danilo led Juve players in the touches (121) and passes (101) charts on Sunday night, emphasising his importance to Pirlo's system.

Out of possession, meanwhile, the 29-year-old served as the right-back in the aforementioned 4-4-2 which meant Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini returned as the Bianconeri's centre-back pairing.

The roaming Aaron Ramsey dropped in as a left midfielder, while the front two of Cristiano Ronaldo and Kulusevski blocked the Sampdoria centre-backs from progressing the ball out to their full-backs, instead forcing them to play into the congested centre where the compact Juve midfield could pick them off and then kickstart transitions from dangerous positions.

The hosts didn't necessarily press high on Sunday night, but they instead sought to outfox their opponents via several astute pressing schemes and emphasised on winning the ball back immediately after it was lost, with McKennie key in this regard. They counter-pressed brilliantly throughout with the American notching 33 pressures in 90 minutes - the most in the Juve side.

But what was perhaps the most impressive aspect of Pirlo's debut, was the swift translation of his ideals when Juventus had possession.

While Maurizio Sarri struggled throughout his sole season to effectively instil his 'Sarriball' philosophy onto a group of players he'd later describe as "uncoachable", Pirlo's way of seeing the game from a managerial perspective was distinct on debut, with all his players aware of their roles in the team.

In his dissertation, Pirlo lists Johan Cruyff and Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona, Louis van Gaal’s Ajax, Carlo Ancelotti’s Milan and Antonio Conte’s Juventus as his key influences for his "total and collective approach", while Il Maestro is also a disciple of the CARP - Costruzione (build-up), Ampiezza (width), Rifinitura (between the lines), Profondita (space in behind) - acronym popular with a plethora of Italian coaches.

These core principles were laid bare in the Sampdoria triumph.

Efficient build-up play was achieved via the overloading of the first phase, with one Juve's pivots often dropping into the backline to create a superiority against Samp's first pressing line which particularly allowed Bonucci's ability on the ball to come to the fore. The Italian racked up the most progressive distance with his passes in the Bianconeri side (639 yards).

Bonucci was often delivering vertical, line-breaking passes into the likes of Ramsey and Kulusevski who found plenty of space between Samp's lines as a result of their frequent interchanges with Ronaldo. At all times, width was provided by wing-backs Cuadrado and Frabbotta while Ronaldo supplied depth to their attacks, thus opening up space to penetrate between the lines and in the half-spaces - where the majestic Welshman liked to operate.

"“Ramsey's a great player. He's very intelligent.”"

- Pirlo speaking post-match

It was clear that Pirlo emphasised on always having five players occupying all five vertical channels to aid progression and, on paper, overload Samp's four-man defence.

The Italian's distinct concepts brought about the sort of harmonious attacking display that Sarri could've only dreamt of overseeing in Turin.

The Juve players were entering the Sampdoria box at a canter, progressing vertically with impressive efficiency, while Cuadrado served as an important outlet down the right. The Bianconeri attempted to isolate the Colombian at the back post and sought to pick him out via diagonal switches - often delivered by McKennie - in behind Augello, very Xavi to Dani Alves-esque.

Unlike last season, there was a sense of direction and unpredictability to their attacking play which made them an overwhelming proposition for a tame Sampdoria side.

From counter-pressing to optimising Aaron Ramsey, tinges of Total Football to purposeful possession, there was plenty to admire from Andrea Pirlo's coaching bow.

Sure, tougher tests lie ahead, no doubt. But the manner in which the Italian set his side up for victory on Sunday night would've undoubtedly sent a message across to his former employer on the Nerazzurri side of Milan.