The injuries have not relented. The fixture list has not shown mercy. And yet Luciano Spalletti, entering a period of seven matches in approximately twenty days, has identified a specific and practical answer to the question of how a squad depleted by the absence of €200 million in playing market value can compete credibly across Serie A, the Europa League, and the Coppa Italia simultaneously. The answer is not a single tactical formation. It is four specific players — and the fact that each of them can function in at least two or three distinct positions without the squad’s identity being compromised.
McKennie — the Multitasking Symbol
If there is one player who is practically impossible to place inside a single tactical category, it is Weston McKennie. The American can operate as a central midfielder, a wide player, an incursore attacking behind the striker, or — as we saw in the experimental deployment of the Cremonese friendly in a similar hybrid role — as a box-to-box presence capable of covering the space that Locatelli and Thuram have left empty. Gazzetta describes him as the quintessential joker: not merely capable of occupying different positions, but of interpreting them with entirely different tasks depending on what the match requires. Spalletti can ask him for work rate and covering, or transform him into an offensive midfielder tasked with attacking the area. He does not need to be the first choice in five different roles — but knowing he can be moved during the same match gives the manager solutions that would otherwise require a substitution.
Cambiaso — From Full-Back to Playmaker
The Friday experiment against Cremonese was explicit. Cambiaso, returning from his ankle injury, was deployed as the deep-lying playmaker in the first half before being moved to the right as a high winger in the second. He was awkward at first in the central role, grew significantly as the half progressed, and played simply and directly — an overall pass mark for a first attempt. The tactical logic is clear: in the absence of Locatelli and Thuram, if Spalletti can trust Cambiaso to cover the regista position when needed, the squad’s options expand considerably without the cost of a January transfer.
Çelik — from Right-Back to Left-Back to Right Wing-Back to Braccetto
The Turkish international has already demonstrated the most practical version of multi-role versatility in competitive football this season: deployed at left-back throughout the opening months despite being a natural right-back, operating as a wing-back in the 3-4-2-1, and adaptable as one of the three defenders when Spalletti constructs a back three. His reliability in every configuration — without complaint and without decline in quality — has been one of the most consistently positive individual stories of the season’s opening weeks.
González — the Chameleon Without the Label
Nico González’s ability to operate as a wide forward, a deeper creative presence, or even as a second striker gives the attacking unit a flexibility that is particularly valuable in a season where the primary centre-forward combination remains uncertain. His position on the pitch changes without his contribution declining — the sign, in Spalletti’s system, of a player who has genuinely absorbed the tactical requirements of the whole rather than memorising the instructions for one specific role. Four players, each worth at least two. The tour de force begins at Cagliari on Saturday. The jokers are ready.
