Thiago Motta was sacked as Juventus coach on Sunday after less than one season in charge with former player Igor Tudor replacing him, the Italian giants announced. “Juventus FC announce that Thiago Motta has been relieved of his duties as men’s first team coach,” said a statement by Juventus. “The club would like to thank Thiago Motta and all of his staff for their professionalism and for the work they have carried out in recent months with passion and dedication. “Juventus also announce that the team will now be led by Igor Tudor, who will take charge of his first training session tomorrow, Monday, 24 March.”
The decision to dump Motta followed a 4-0 defeat by Atalanta — their heaviest home defeat since 1967 — and a 3-0 loss at Fiorentina in the team’s last two games, leaving Juve a disappointing fifth in the Italian top flight.
On the back of these results, the club’s directors used the current international break to have discussions with Motta, which led them to the decision that he was no longer the best fit for the role.
But the seeds of doubt in the club’s mind go back to well before March.
After leading Bologna to the Champions League last season, Motta, 42, arrived to much fanfare in Turin back in July of last year. But the honeymoon period did not last long.
His team rarely thrilled and collected 13 draws in the league, while expensive summer recruits like Douglas Luiz and Teun Koopmeiners failed to live up to expectations.
A situation which was exacerbated by Motta’s frequent tinkering to his starting XI — he deployed 39 different formations over the course of his 42 matches in charge.
And the Italian-Brazilian coach also made some odd choices, notably by relegating Serbian striker Dusan Vlahovic and Turkish phenomenon Kenan Yildiz to the bench.
Last month, Juventus were knocked out of the Champions League by PSV Eindhoven in the play-off for a place in the last 16 and the Italian Cup, of which they were the defending champions, when they lost to Empoli in the quarter-finals.
In addition to poor results, a big hit to Motta has doubtless been the perception of many of the club’s faithful that, under his leadership, Juve have lost part of their DNA.
The team no longer live up to their motto of ‘Fino alla fine’ (Until the end) — having drawn or lost 87.5 percent of the matches in which they have fallen behind.
All of this had led to Juventus being in a dogfight to secure vital Champions League football next season.
With only nine matches remaining this term, just six points separate Bologna in fourth from ninth-placed AC Milan in the Serie A race for Europe’s top club competition.
Conte, Pioli, Mancini?
Motta’s replacement Tudor will be tasked with securing fourth place, the last qualifying spot for the Champions League, which is crucial for Juventus’ fragile finances.
Croatian Tudor made 174 appearances for Juve as a player, before going into coaching. His past managerial experiences include Verona, Marseille and Lazio.
He was also Andrea Pirlo‘s assistant when the former Italian midfield maestro was the man in charge of Juventus for the 2020-21 season.
According to the Italian press, 46-year-old Tudor has only signed a deal to stay in the Juventus hot seat until the end of the current season.
In this case, the club’s directors will likely be hoping to attract a big-name coach such as Antonio Conte or Stefano Pioli — in charge of Napoli and Saudi side Al Nassr respectively — to join them in June before the start of the new-format Club World Cup.
Another possible candidate is Roberto Mancini, former coach of Inter Milan and Manchester City, who has been without a job since stepping down as Saudi Arabia coach last October.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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