The gut reaction to the mauling from City feels horrid.
For us all.
The circumstances however need to be honestly appraised before making sweeping conclusions.
The mess Agnelli created over the course of 2018 to his exit in 2022 was widespread and deep. We are still suffering from his mistakes and will be I imagine until next Summer, when we should finally rid ourselves of that onerous wage of Dusan, and also poor Arthur.
The debts Agnelli created may well have been brought down to manageable records since the new crowd were brought into upper management. However, I believe they didn’t project a season where we may avoid a net annual loss until 26/27. Worth bearing in mind that we remain seeking to cut costs.
Giuntoli was regarded as a top SD in Italy. Motta was regarded as one of the most promising up-and-coming coaches. We got them both. It didn’t work out. Which can happen.
They both paid for their failures by losing their jobs.
We now have to deal with the result of their failures which is a handful of players on big wages, signed for big money, who are still performing poorly under a different coach or have been earmarked as having a strong market value we seek to monetize. We will struggle to get rid of them. Only Luiz is expected to have solid offers, which in turn will remove from the squad one of few with proven technical expertise on the ball. He will need to be replaced.
If we cannot move players out, we cannot sign replacements without more penny-pinching and forcing out others who can be pushed. How the new management goes about this will impact the potential for cultivating a cohesive, positive environment between the players and staff.
I was very much often against how I perceived Giuntoli and Motta treated players deemed surplus to requirements. As well as how the coach appeared more focused on hierarchy and his system/methods than common sense utilization of players in form.
Comolli hasn’t been chased out of town by every club he has left. Some ups, some downs. I see his signing as a bold, brave move by Elkann, who yes, it’s clear, is still trying to find the right mix of people running the club, for which he as owner, has no time to also act as President. People often forget he was also the owner during our golden period in the 2010s.
My long repeated note here is that it was Beppe Marotta as the linchpin of that glorious run of consistent success. Once Agnelli kicked him out, our spiral downwards began and thereafter gained in momentum and calamity. Still, this has been covered many times before. I will spare you another deep wading into that tired word swamp
Once Agnelli and his merry bunch of suits were banished, Elkann sent in administrators to clean up the mess. He sanctioned getting Giuntoli who has since cut the wage bill significantly and signed some decent players – Thuram, Di Gre, Costa perhaps, Kolo and Chico if we can get them permanently. Others have been not so great.
It must be added that aside from the money involved (and player sacrifices), most of us were happy to see Douglas Luiz, Koopmeiners, Nico all signed. Luiz especially was a class act in the PL for the two seasons before, the other two hardly slouches in Serie A over a similar period.
Sometimes transfers and coaches don’t work out.
I agree with many who are pulling out their hair and fearing the worst – we desperately need to try to get things right off the field before we can get things right on the field. Elkann clearly felt the same, as he has sanctioned and seems the catalyst for seismic change at the club very much still underway.
We have neither the strongest nor most balanced squad in Serie A.
I would put us 3rd at best on paper in these regards.
We don’t have the best coach, that would be Conte.
It is impossible to know what Tudor is capable of until he has been given a proper preseason, some signings to help implement his ideas and at least half the next campaign to show the direction of the team under his guidance.
I urge you to wait till Christmas to make any conclusive judgements.
The squad desperately needs, I believe, at a bare minimum –
- A quality CB who is good on the ball (probably 2)
- A quality CF who can score goals (this is as well as Kolo)
- A quality WB, perhaps 2.
Ideally adding a quality AM to work the lines where Yildiz/Chico roam when they need a break. Miretti could help here – his quick passing, dynamic moving game appears to suit Tudor perfectly. Yet also needed is established quality in this area. Especially when considering that the mercurial promise and potency of the young portuguese dwarf can be as frustrating as valuable.
Any coach needs these additions to the squad, or they will struggle.
We also have to accept that making these changes is not as simple as merely wanting to do so. We have a full squad. Clubs are not queuing up for our players (likely only Thuram, Yildiz have decent offers). Players know they won’t earn as much elsewhere, which gives them even less reason to leave.
Comolli and Chiellini have a very tough job. Tudor also.
The main aim for the CWC was to qualify for the next round, earn some money, hopefully see some progress/encouraging signs on the field. All of which has been met to a large degree.
Perhaps Tudor thought it best to ensure qualification to the KO stage, and that was reached by putting out the best team v the weaker sides. Use the City game as a roll of the dice as well as to provide the second string a chance to impress, show what they can do. Nico, Koopmeiners and Vlahovic cost the club a combined EU175m. Their wages for this coming season reach EU30m.
Its a tricky task for the club management. Sidelining these under-performing assets works against promoting them for sale and hoping to keep their value reasonable.
Unsurprisingly, the line up including those 3 and prodigal son returned Kostic didn’t work out well. We looked a feeble opponent until the arrival of Yildiz, Thuram and Cambiaso.
We must also bear in mind that City are a top 3 side on the planet, I believe. Maybe top 5 to be more reasonable. We are nowhere near that level.
This Juve squad has no strength in depth whatsoever when player for player we are matched in direct comparison to Manchester City.
We do not even have a starting XI with proven quality in every position.
Comolli, Chiellini, Tudor…may all prove the wrong choices in the long run. Yet to conclude they are presently already failed is beyond knee-jerk, its borderline hysterical.
That City squad can beat any side on the planet by 3 goals. Many more if they are in the mood.
We were not playing our ideal starting XI. The reasons for that are debatable, but this does not detract from the fact that this was not the best possible Juve.
There is a superior selection available.
It still needs a lot of work to make it complete enough to mount a serious challenge domestically, and begin to build something solid for the future.
The new management will need to operate intelligently and carefully through the next couple of years, 2-3 I imagine, in order to hopefully move towards a more balanced side, with strength in depth for each role on the field. We are nowhere near there at the moment. To deny this leads only to unrealistic expectations and the inevitable disappointment.
My hope is that we witness against Real Madrid a return to our strongest XI who give a good account of themselves against another of the most incredible squads found anywhere on Earth or beyond.
Win, lose or draw, I am nonetheless digging in for the long haul before making any sweeping judgements of the new project, when the reality is – it has barely had chance to truly begin.
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