🔎 Motta-gate, transfers, Juve DNA missing: 3️⃣ reasons for Giuntoli’s flop | OneFootball

Following a very tense meeting, John Elkann has decided to relieve Juventus sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli of his duties.

The decision by Exor’s majority shareholder comes as a bolt from the blue, since the prevailing sentiment was that, despite the disappointment of the first two years, the relationship would continue into the next season.

A contract running until 2028 was not enough for the executive to try to change the course of what was supposed to be the most important experience of his career. Two years after his arrival from Napoli, let's analyze the reasons behind a flop of enormous proportions.

The Thiago Motta Choice

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Never in sync with previous coach Massimiliano Allegri, last summer Giuntoli bet everything on Thiago Motta. The choice went far beyond the coach’s profile and represented an attempt at a philosophical turning point.

The decision was made for a man who had already widely demonstrated at Bologna that he put his tactical ideas above the players, trying to change the paradigm that coaching Juventus mainly means managing talent. The result bordered on self-sabotage.

The team stopped following the coach’s lead very early on, and many talented players (for example, Nicolò Fagioli) were excluded from the technical project. The last performances before the sacking marked one of the lowest points in the club’s recent history. Thiago Motta was worn down by a set goal that was beyond his capabilities and which progressively drained him of energy and conviction.

The Transfer Market

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Precisely in an attempt to support the Thiago Motta project, the transfer campaign of the second year in black and white proved to be a disastrous point of no return. 234 million euros were invested for almost no sporting results.

A 4th place finish secured on the final day and humiliating eliminations in the Champions League and Coppa Italia against PSV and Empoli do not in any way justify the money spent. The cases of Teun Koopmeiners and Douglas Luiz are striking, and even Nico Gonzalez is a deal that is hard to explain, but there is more.

The formula of extremely expensive dry loans, like those of Conceicao, Renato Veiga, and Kolo Muani, hardly fits a top-tier club. The idea of having sold players like Huijsen and Soulé only to end up paying astronomical sums for a mystery like Kelly leaves everyone deeply perplexed.

The flop is undeniable, but the worst aspect is the sheer confusion. The summer strategy was contradicted in January, the technical project collapsed by late winter, and the conservative moves ahead of the Club World Cup (bringing back players like Kostic and Rugani to complete the squad) immediately appeared to be a clear sign of a total lack of ideas.

Absent Juve DNA

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The never-blossomed relationship with Allegri has been discussed, but more shocking than the legitimate decision to part ways was the manner of communication. Giuntoli’s goal was to create a break with the past to bring the club and the team closer to a more modern style of football. However, by casting shadows over Juventus’ recent history, the result was a progressive loss of identity.

The flip-flopping over Thiago Motta, who was supposed to stay “in any case” before the match against Fiorentina and was then sacked immediately after. The treatment reserved for Igor Tudor, who made himself available to the club but never enjoyed real trust. The lack of clarity over the choice of the next coach, which now threatens to weigh heavily on planning for next season.

Now the Bianconeri are groping in the dark after Antonio Conte decided to stay at Napoli, and the new management led by Damien Comolli will have to quickly find a solution. Giuntoli’s original sin, in short, was his attitude of clear rupture not backed up by facts: the sporting director never showed the ideas, conviction, or consistency to justify decisions that never paid off.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.

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