Francesco Calzona knows Luciano Spalletti from the inside. He was part of the staff at Napoli during the Scudetto-winning season, took over the first team after Spalletti’s departure, and has since spent four years guiding Slovakia. He speaks about Juventus’s crisis with the credibility of someone who has seen the manager at his peak and understands both what he is capable of and what the conditions required to deliver it look like.
“They Must Give Continuity — They Change Everything Too Often”
The diagnosis is the opposite of what the current institutional conversation is suggesting. While Calciomercato.com maps escape routes through Conte, Deschamps, Pioli and Sousa, Calzona makes the case against the whole cycle: “They must give continuity — they change everything too often. History says they must start out to win, but we have to be honest: today’s Juventus is not as competitive as Inter, nor even as Napoli, for example. You need years to build — look at Arsenal. They have to go beyond the pressure. One year is not enough, it takes time.”
The managerial roll call is delivered as an indictment of the club’s institutional behaviour: “First Sarri, then Pirlo, Allegri, Thiago Motta, Tudor and now Spalletti — you cannot burn through all of these managers.” Six in six years. The argument is not that Spalletti is the right answer, but that the cycle of replacement is itself the structural problem — and that sacking him now repeats the pattern that created the present situation.
On Napoli, returning from Monza with more conviction: “Something is still missing — they keep conceding. But they’ve unlocked themselves, they score a lot, the offensive level is high. They can return to the very highest levels.”
Frosinone’s Surprise — “Alvini’s Work Deserves Honour”
When asked who has surprised him most in Serie A this season, Calzona lingers on Frosinone: “I am a lover of Como’s game. And then clearly I am amazed by Frosinone — they are having a great championship for the football they are playing. Honour to Alvini’s work.” The context makes this particularly relevant: Frosinone have just thrashed Lecce 5-0 with Raimondo and Birligea both on the scoresheet, and sit one point behind Milan at the top of the table’s upper-middle.
“Raimondo Is a Snake” — the Endorsement Juventus Have Been Waiting For
The most significant passage for Juventus’s January planning arrives in response to the direct question: is Raimondo what Juventus are missing? Calzona’s answer is unequivocal: “For me, yes. He sees the play before the others — he protects the ball, he fights wars with defenders, he is complete, and I see him already ready for a leap like this. He is truly a snake.”
The phrase “serpente” — the snake — is the Italian footballing shorthand for a striker who strikes from nowhere, who moves in the box with a predator’s economy and punishes the moment of inattention. Calzona saw Raimondo live in Florence and says he is “impressed by how he moves in the area.” This is the specific quality missing from the current Juventus attack: a striker who finds space in the penalty area by instinct rather than by running at defenders.
The Raimondo thread across this session has been consistent: Juventus scouts were present at the Stadio Stirpe, Bologna want €25m, Frosinone must be convinced, the “Gatti formula” (buy in January, loan back) is the preferred structure, Miretti is a possible inclusion. Calzona’s endorsement — from a manager who coached Napoli to a title and now analyses the league from outside — adds credibility to the case and, given the Frosinone result against Lecce, timing.
The remaining chapters cover Calzona’s pleasure working under Spalletti and the management of Osimhen as the manager’s “real masterpiece,” Napoli’s chances against Inter, Higuaín’s departure to Juventus and De Laurentiis’s role in it, and Calzona’s own desire for a club job after Slovakia.
