While Motta wasn’t blameless in the swift curtailment of his time with the Old Lady, due to his inflexibility, and faltering relationship with multiple players, Juventus find themselves at a very familiar juncture in their history.
Not too long ago, they had embarked on similar journeys under Maurizio Sarri and Andrea Pirlo. This, in turn, had happened right after Max Allegri’s first spell with the club ended with the board promising a modernisation that was cut-short on both occasions and Allegri returned to the club after a couple of seasons.
In a way, Motta’s dismissal is a similar, but uglier tale. The club has briefed against him constantly and has villainised the ex-midfielder up until his sacking, suggesting their are other factors at play, and Motta’s situation is only the tip of the iceberg at the Bianconeri.
Juventus’ lack of direction
Juve operate in the tight financial regime of Serie A and considering their recent point deductions, they have to be extra cautious about their finances. All of that means that Champions League money is very important for Juventus and qualification is an immediate need for any new manager coming in.
A lot of times though, managers like Motta (who are ‘project’ managers and build for the long-term) take a fair amount of time to make the team their own. In this case, Juve were playing a completely different brand of football under Allegri and they made a quick jump to Motta, who preaches a more attacking brand of football.
That process always takes time and that is the risk that comes with hiring ‘project’ managers. That risk – as seen from examples at Milan and Roma – can cost Champions League qualification, which limits the budget going into the next season.
Managers like Allegri or Stefano Pioli are problem solvers and they adapt to situations extremely well. Pioli won Serie A with a not-so-great Milan side and Allegri helped Juve to the Coppa Italia as recently as last season and helped them through a very difficult campaign impacted by a points deduction. They are the textbook managers who can solve an immediate need and help improve sustainability, bringing little risk of missing out on Champions League.
But Juve are confused. They want to modernise and perhaps replicate the Atalanta model, but they barely have the patience to do so. The last few seasons show that. Perhaps, this is the time for them to buy into one model completely.
Were Juventus’ transfers Motta’s transfers?
While Juve’s PR line when signing new players is always that the incoming is the manager’s preferred signing, that isn’t always the case.
Teun Koopmeiners was being looked at by Juve throughout 2024 before he joined. Quite the same was the case with Khéphren Thuram. While Douglas Luiz joined from Aston Villa, it was a deal based on financial convenience as moving on Enzo Barrenechea and Samuel Iling-Junior gave them wiggle room in the market.
Throughout the season, there have been no signs that Motta knows how to use Luiz and Koopmeiners.
Later, Lloyd Kelly, Renato Veiga and Alberto Costa joined at the time of a defensive injury crisis. Those moves were made quickly as they filled obvious gaps in the backline after injuries to Bremer and Juan Cabal.
Beyond that, there is the question of breakout Bournemouth star Dean Huijsen being forced out of the club and Nicolo Fagioli suffering the same fate, despite impressing under Motta. Quite the same happened with Fabio Miretti, who is performing well at Genoa. Matías Soulé was also sold to Roma.
It can’t be a coincidence that all the club’s youth products – including Iling-Junior and Barrenechea were moved on at the same time. They were financial decisions made to earn capital gains and were barely managerial decisions. That is the reality Juve operate in and this problem will impact whoever signs on as the next manager too.
An untrustworthy dressing room?
Even though Motta is to be blamed for failing to control the squad dynamics, the Juve dressing room is full of instability.
Youth graduates Kenan Yıldız and Samuel Mbangula are constantly mentioned by the local press (that is often briefed by Juve) as for sale at the right price. Similar has happened for Andrea Cambiaso, who was linked with Manchester City.
It has also become clear that Juve painted a picture that the squad wasn’t happy with Motta. Whether that is true or not is a different point, but the club barely backed their own manager. Even if the players weren’t happy, that is often not a good sign at all.
Motta had to change captaincy multiple times during the season as he failed to trust players or vice versa. It became obvious that there is definitely an issue between the two parties. All of these problems can become major in the space of just a few months and after a point, it comes down to the culture that a club’s ownership imposes over a team.
A culture of instability will make every individual insecure at the club, things will turn messy, and that will cost many managers their job.
There are bigger things to worry about than Motta and as time goes by, Juventus fans will see them out in the open.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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