MiTi: Kupmenas has played as a central defender in the Eredivisie. This is his sixth position at Juventus.

"Gazzetta dello Sport" stated that Spalletti's decision to switch Kupmenas to the left center back may help the player recover, and Kupmenas has also played this position in the Netherlands in the past.

In the 10th round of Serie A, Juventus defeated Cremonese 2-1 in an away game. New coach Luciano Spalletti got off to a good start after taking office. In this game, Spalletti generally followed Juventus' previous 3421 formation, but he surprisingly placed Dutch midfielder Kupmenas in the left center back position, allowing the players to start organizing and dispatching on the back line. This change achieved good results.

Kupmenas joined Juventus last summer with a transfer fee of nearly 60 million euros. But whether during Motta's coaching or Tudor's coaching, Kupmenas failed to fully realize his potential, which led to the continued depreciation of this important investment for Juventus. This time Spalletti arranged for Kupmenas to play left center back, which was already the sixth position he played after joining Juventus. Previously, Motta had arranged for Kupmenas to play as an attacking midfielder, wing back, and pseudo center, while Tudor arranged for him to play as a right attacking midfielder and defensive midfielder.

However, Spalletti also pointed out that letting Kupmenas play as central defender is not his "innovation". In fact, Kupmenas has played this position in the past. "Gazzetta dello Sport" stated that Kupmenas did play as a defender in 38 games when he was in the Dutch national team and when he first joined Alkmaar. But then Kupmenas performed well in the midfield, especially after joining Atlanta and showing off his offensive talents. This is the first time Kupmenas has played as a central defender after landing in Italian football. In the Champions League game this week, Spalletti may continue to arrange Kupmenas to start at the left center back position.

For the Juventus club, they hope that Spalletti's arrangement can quickly bring about ideal results. The current book value of Kupmenas is still 36 million euros. It will not be easy for Juventus to sell players at such a high price in the winter. Kupmenas's good performance after switching to central defender gave people renewed hope and confidence in him. If Kupmenas can perform well in this new position, it will be good news for the player himself, coach Spalletti and the Juventus club.