Home » Columns » 2 Pros And Cons Of Chelsea Signing This Defensive Wall From Italy

2 Pros And Cons Of Chelsea Signing This Defensive Wall From Italy

What Antonio Conte so far has achieved with the Italian squad is simply amazing. The talented manager has somehow made an aging Italian team great again and if Euro 2016 is anything to go by, Chelsea fans should be extremely pleased with their managerial decision to bring in the Italian next season.

Conte is a winner and will be looking to bring in that kind of mentality at Stamford Bridge again but even more than that is his defensive qualities and also the fact that he gets the best out of many players as well.

The 46-year-old has already brought in Michy Batshuayi to the Blues and one more player who could be joining him is Juventus star Leonardo Bonucci, who is having another excellent campaign with the Italian national side in France as well.

The 29-year-old is being linked with a move to Chelsea but with every move there are pros and cons and we look at a couple of them each to see just how good or bad this deal could be.

Cons

Lack of pace

This might be the biggest problem for any defender, especially one that is coming in from Italy. Bonucci isn’t the fastest in the world and he could be found out rather easily if he goes up against a fast player.

That is the reason why Juventus played with a 3-man central defence and they would need to do something similar at Chelsea if Bonucci and his teammates are to prosper, at least in defence.

Does not tackle often

This might be a bit of a surprise but Bonucci isn’t known for his tackling and he in fact, does not tackle a lot at all. In the Serie A last season, the 29-year-old only averaged 1.1 tackle per game, which might be a problem in the Premier League.

We aren’t saying that defending is always about tackling and his positioning might be great but he does need to be a bit more aggressive if he is to survive, so we would not be surprised to see him tackle a bit more if he does join Chelsea.

Pros

A leader at the back

Chelsea have lacked a leader at the back for a while, sure they might have John Terry but they have to plan for after that and Bonucci still has 3-4 years at the top level left in him. It would not be a surprise if he does take the captain’s armband from Terry at the end of next season as the Blues look to the future.

Bonucci also would be a better choice in defence than Gary Cahill as he would be constantly communicating with the rest of the team to ensure they don’t make a mess of things at the back.

One of the best at reading the game

Bonucci might not be a tackling beast but he is smart at reading the game and that would be his greatest strength. His positioning and interceptions are incredibly important for a side and would make a world of a difference to Chelsea as well.

Chelsea need some fresh blood in the team but there is nothing better than experience in defence Winning five Serie A titles with Juventus will hold Bonucci in great stead as he looks to make a difference for the Chelsea team if he joins.