Action! Andrea Cambiaso takes on the role of director — and the film that emerges is probably not heading for an Oscar nomination at the 99th ceremony in March 2027. What took place at the Continassa on Friday was more of an experimental short film, produced by Luciano Spalletti, that is unlikely to find space in the best cinemas of Serie A — at least not immediately.
Cambiaso, returning from the ankle sprain that kept him sidelined for over a month, was deployed in the first half of the uninspiring Cremonese friendly in the unexpected position of play — the deep-lying midfielder in a 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 drawn up by the manager. Part choice, part necessity: Locatelli and Thuram remain long-term absentees, and 12 internationals — including Sarr, Koopmeiners, and Douglas Luiz — were away from the training ground. Cambiaso performed, in essence, the exact role that Douglas Luiz has made his own in this opening to the season.
The Experiment — Awkward at First, Growing as the Half Progressed
The first impression is honest and appropriately measured. “The Spallettata did not take hold instantly: Cambiaso appeared uncomfortable in both phases in the opening minutes, then grew considerably. He played simply and directly — overall passed, without having stolen the eye.” That final phrase — without having stolen the eye — is the qualifier that prevents any premature conclusion: this was a first attempt at an unfamiliar role, in a friendly context, against a Cremonese side. Not a definitive verdict on anything.
In the second half he was moved to the right as a high winger — returning to something closer to his natural attacking profile. The shift between the two roles within a single match is itself informative: Spalletti used the friendly as a genuine laboratory, with the freedom to test configurations that the competitive calendar has so far not allowed.
What This Means for Koopmeiners — and Why the Warning Is Serious
The second and third paywalled chapters — “Cambiaso sulla via del riscatto” and “Juve, un ‘nuovo’ protagonista” — address the implications that flow from Friday’s experiment, and it is the Koopmeiners dimension that carries the most immediate competitive weight.
Gazzetta dello Sport has already reported that the Dutch midfielder faces a three-month window to prove himself before January’s market opens. The Cambiaso-as-play experiment adds a further and unexpected dimension to that pressure: if Spalletti finds that Cambiaso — who has the tactical intelligence, the technical quality, and crucially the positional flexibility to operate centrally — can cover the deep-lying midfield role, the case for keeping an underperforming Koopmeiners through the winter becomes harder still to sustain. A player being asked to justify his place does not need to hear that his manager has been quietly exploring whether someone else — someone already in the squad, already trusted — can do what he has been failing to do.
Cambiaso needs minutes to rediscover competitive sharpness after his absence. The Cagliari fixture on 11 October will almost certainly see him return to his natural left-sided role rather than as a playmaker. But the experiment exists now. Spalletti’s mind has been opened to a possibility it had not previously entertained in competitive football. And Koopmeiners — watching from the international break in the Netherlands — has been given a warning he did not expect.
