After Thiago Motta: Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo
03/25/2025 02:40 PM
Welcome to Juventus ... Igor Tudor!
Il buono
A New Beginning
Hindsight is a fickle thing in the great world of calcio as it presents fans with a buffet of "what ifs" and "if onlys." What if Bremer was healthy all season? What if Cristiano Ronaldo never left for Manchester? What if Juventus won the Champions League in 2017?
Generally, they bring more pain than nostalgia.
Say what you will about Thiago Motta, but the small stretch of time before the endless slog of draws and the full-scale collapse of early 2025 was a time of reflection and what seemed like a rebirth. Two 3-0 victories to start the season, followed by two draws that at the time were acceptable due to the newness of the manager, players, and project, ultimately culminating in the thrashing of PSV Eindhoven in the first match of the Champions League.
For the first time in a long time, it seemed like there was a bit of hope for The Old Lady.
Stagnant players like Filip Kostic and Alex Sandro had left for greener pastures, there was a promise of more attacking play, and the Bianconeri were riding high after a victory in the Coppa Italia final in 2024.
But as the fans saw, sometimes the grass is truly always greener on the other side.
Inter Milan Matchdays
In another credit to Mr. Motta, the 2024-25 campaign showed that, at the very least, he can say that he kept Juventus' sworn rivals at bay. First came a come-from-behind 4-4 draw at the San Siro that perfectly encapsulated why Kenan Yildiz is and will continue to be perfect for La Vecchia Signora. He score two goals in just over 11 minutes, and a great showcase of the raw potential that Dusan Vlahvoic possesses, even if he has been less than stellar since his 2022 departure from Fiorentina. It was a match that thrived on the rivalry between the two footballing giants, and a keen reminder of the will to win that is the very soul of Juventus. Or at least, come back from a two goal deficit to force a draw.
The second match against Inter Milan was not a similar story, as it was a deadlock until the final 20 minutes. On paper, Inter dominated possession, the number of passes, passing accuracy, and logged a single shot more than Juventus (17). But Juventus commanded shots on target, and had the home fans on their side. In the end, it all fell on a goal from Porto loanee Francisco Conceicao to bring the win home.
Miracle in Leipzig
A something-for-everyone kind of match. Penalties, a red card, a comeback, and of course a Vlahovic brace. All while wearing one of the all-time kits in Juventus history, according to the voters on Football Kit Archive.
When "fino alla fine" is said by fans, printed on scarves and shirts, or tattooed on loyal fans, this match is the very epitome of the statement. RB Leipzig led in shots, on-target shots, corners, and for more than 31 minutes played against a 10-man Juventus. Not to mention they had the momentum from their opening goal. But nothing kept the Bianconeri down, while fan favorite Mattia Perin got to make a rare appearance.
Sunset on the Sky Blues
What is perfect football? If one were to casually turn on a Champions League match in December of last year featuring Pep Guardiola's treble-winning superteam versus a newly formed and extremely young Juventus, that person would know what perfect football is.
This match was the ideal portrayal of what Juventus should be.
Aggressive, intense, coherent, and filled with a passion to win. Vlahovic found the back of the net after a short injury spell, and Juve's USMNT duo linked up for an attacking run that allowed Weston McKennie to work his magic at home. Not to mention Federico Gatti turning into a one-man army reminiscent of prime Bonucci-Barzagli-Chiellini, and finding a lovely spot in his pocket among his iPhone, wallet, chewing gum, and money clip for Erling Haaland.
Was it the unstoppable Manchester City of the past few years? No, but a brand new team of Bianconeri took down a Premier League side that is valued at €1.3 billion.
Il Brutto
The Freeze Out
One of the biggest complaints about Motta was how he froze players out over the course of the season. Nicolo Fagiolo was practically about to appear on Italian milk bottles in his waning days at the club before his untimely exile to Fiorentina, Vlahovic became a striker who only appear in cameos off the bench — though somewhat understandably based on performance, at the beginning of Randal Kolo Muani's loan spell — and long stretches of matches turned Khephren Thuram in a super-sub role despite being arguably the best summer transfer Juventus made.
Managers are allowed to dislike their players from time to time, players are allowed to be disenfranchised with their gaffer. It's all part of the game. But Motta made it clear that he was the law in the locker room, and any pushback to that would find a player firmly planted on the bench. Coaches can do this once, maybe twice, to make a point to the entire locker room that there is a natural order, continuous freeze-outs and refusals to field better options to try and prove the point that he can force good performances out of flop transfers Teun Koopmeiners and Douglas Luiz massively backfired. Juventus lost their fighting spirit, which was the only thing they had early on.
DanilOut
Objectively, Danilo was on the decline over the past few seasons, especially in the fall of 2024. He was slower to the ball, gave away a few penalties, and his pace to chase was not the same as it was in years prior.
However, Danilo brought something truly unique to the Juventus locker room, and that was a level of Juventus DNA-fueled leadership, the lack of which that has yet to be found.
There are dozens of moving pieces in transfers and departures, with blame not only allocated to the manager, but his unceremonious ousting dealt a crippling blow to the squad. The Brazilian was one of the only players on the squad at the start of the season to win a Scudetto, Coppa Italia, and Supercoppa, and one of the very few who knows the feeling of holding a well-earned Champions League trophy in his hands, even if it was for Real Madrid, which he played for his departure to Flamingo in his home country.
Sure, he was aging. And sure, he was in the twilight of his footballing escapades. But he knew better than most the will to win while wearing black and white.
Experimental Approaches
Much like a fantasy football team manager or a basketball fan making a March Madness bracket, Motta is a tinkerer. Maybe too much of a tinkerer. In his crusade to unlock the very best of Juventus, he fielded players out of their natural position, gave the captain's armband to pretty much anyone who raised their hand first, and kept on giving minutes to players who time and time again proved that they were not Juventus material.
It's fine early on to try and see if certain players will play better or worse in different places and to try new tactics. Sometimes it works, as Timothy Weah proved this season that he functions just as well on the wings as he does as a fullback, which was his primary role under different management. But too much tinkering leads to an inability to find and keep a coherent team structure, which became a key issue in the closing days of Motta's tenure.
Overconfidence? Undoing
It seemed like after every match, draw or loss, Motta would come out and say to the press "I am still the man to lead this project." But as fans know at this point, saying and doing are two very different concepts. Reinforcing faith in the project after a few early season draws is acceptable, and even defending the squad after their first loss in all competitions against Stuttgart, a club that Motta and co. wildly underestimated, is okay if you can admit that miscalculation. But after 13 draws, two of the worst losses in history, and getting knocked out of every competition, what is left to defend?
It's understandable that Motta was confident — his history as a player saw him win 25 domestic and cup titles with Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Milan and Barcelona, and he could also claim the rights to two Champions League winners medals. Not to mention he was the first coach to bring Bologna to the Champions League since the LBJ administration six decades ago.
But in the end, that very confidence turned into hubris, and led to the downfall of Juventus under his watch.
Il Cattivo
PSV Eind-broken
It was the worst of times, it was the worst of times. Nothing truly positive came from the second leg of the UCL knockouts, other than the silver-lining realization that something is not working. But even that came much too late. PSV Eindhoven, who have done remarkably well in their domestic league, should never be a threat to Juve. Much like Saudi Arabia's win over Argentina in the 2022 World Cup or Aberdeen's 1983 victory over Real Madrid in the Super Cup, the very idea of PSV beating out Juventus should be seen as a semi-national holiday for the Dutch.
Instead, Juventus was given a proper battering, as the Eindhoviens easily trampled the Bianconeri, who seemed to lose every bit of confidence after the first half at Philips Stadion.
Sometimes it's hard to pick out the very moment that it's clear something is completely over, but the one stroke of luck Juventus has had under Motta is that this moment was very clear, and it certainly was not against AC Milan in the Supercoppa.
Bergamo, Duomo, and the Fiasco at the Carlo
The football simply left Juventus against Empoli, Atalanta, and Fiorentina — and it's clear why.
The locker room turned against Motta, and he had lost any semblance of leadership by this time. Out of the Supercoppa, out of the Champions League, and out of the Coppa Italia against a team that could very well be relegated ... all in a span of a few months. Anyone can go over scorelines, possession numbers and tactics, finding a reason that Juventus lost all three of these critical matches, but the key factor in this was that the team's spirit had been destroyed.
The relationship between players is a lifelong bond, they share triumphs and defeats, injuries and hot-streaks, and virtually everything together. It's an unbreakable bond, so imagine for a moment showing up to the Continassa one day and finding that some of your brothers have been sent away, your locker room leader is back in Brazil, and that your coach and sporting director have zero regrets from those choices. Not to mention, while some of the new faces, mainly Renato Viega, are eager to play their hearts out, some of the other ones are completely out of their depth.
Why continue to keep playing hard at that point, when the spirit and brotherhood has been completely crippled? Pundits tore into Juventus after Atalanta saying that it was like they forgot how to play, and while it did seem like that, it was also that they lost so much of what they were playing for, and told to obey or end up riding the bench if they speak out against something that's not working.
Lloyd!!!
The Lloyd Kelly transfer may go down as one of the worst decisions ever made by Juventus.
Take a backup defender from a sixth-place Premier League team, and ask him to play for the most storied club in Italian history. Now a coach is not the only person to blame for these things, as there are scouts and sporting directors who indicated that this would be a good idea, mainly Cristiano Giuntoli. Nonetheless, people who truly understand the caliber and history of Juventus would know that every player, from star striker to academy graduate that will substitute in due to an injury crisis, must embody what "fino alla fine" stands for, and nobody can pluck a backup from across the Narrow Sea and place him into Juventus' starting XI without there being negative ramifications.
Draw Me A River
In the end, it comes down to a very simple question.
"Are you winning matches?"
Under Motta, the answer was never a confident yes. To date, Juventus has recorded 13 draws in Serie A, finished with three draws in the Champions League league phase, and a deadlock against Empoli that turned to penalties. The wins were simply not there, and no manager should be able to hold his head high after dropping so many easily won points. Inter Milan and Roma early on are given leeway, but Venezia? Cagliari? Parma? Lecce? The list goes on.
There doesn't even need to be a FIFA (or EAFC) style list of objectives for a manager to know that the main goal is to win more matches than anyone else.
When I first started doing the "il buono..." segment, I never even considered that I would be doing it for a person, much less a manager. Thanks to those who have read these over the past year, and made it this far.
That said, I was a believer in Thiago Motta for a long time, the newness was enough that I gave him a good deal of leeway. It was not a indictment of Max Allegri. Rather it was the opposite, I hold Mad Max in high regard, and much like when people around me start up the "best player of all time" debate and conveniently leave off goalkeepers, which is totally unfair to the impeccable Gianluigi Buffon, I do not like when Allegri is left out of consideration for greatest Italian managers of the 21st century, at least domestically.
But football is an ever changing landscape, and times are changing. No longer is the Ronaldo-Messi debate raging, heroes we grew up with like Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Del Piero now drift into legends of the sport, and teams that once stood above the rest are battling it out with new contenders. Hell, Wrexham may play in the Premier League before I turn 30. All this to say, I believe that as football changes, Juventus should be receptive to it. Not through creator labs, influencer collaborations or graffiti on $250 dollar kits, rather La Vecchia Signora needed to build a bulwark to compete against teams in these changing times.
I thought Motta was the man for it. Young guy with a decorated history as a player, young and eager squad, a return to black and white after the disaster of the yellow-zebra home kits of last season. But in football and science, some experiments fail, and to that end I wish Motta well wherever he goes, he just was not the right person to do all of this at Juventus.
So from here until the next shakeup, Forza Igor!
