What’s gone wrong for Juventus?
Juventus faces a pivotal moment in its season, navigating a coaching change and relying on key players like Vlahović to reignite their push for stability and silverware.
The Old Lady…for many, the definition of Italian football. The famous black and white stripes. Well, unless you support another Italian team. Yet for more casual Scudetto followers, Juventus is the team that dominates news articles and is the team that is the default champion, having won the Serie A title nine times in a row between 2011 and 2020. Yet, now…that’s not the case. Why? Why isn’t this classic team commanding Italian football like before?
Thiago Motta was the wrong man for the job.
When Massimiliano Allegri announced he’d be leaving Juventus for the second time, there was great anticipation as to who would take over the reins at Juventus. Allegri’s second reign was nowhere as good as his first, but he had built a decent enough platform for his successor, lifting the Coppa Italia at the end of the 2023/24 season.
Enter Thiago Motta. The Brazilian-Italian had worked miracles with Bologna to earn them a UEFA Champions League spot in the 2023/24 season and had shown a good pedigree of management skill, having also helped Spezia Calcio avoid relegation in the 2021/22 season.
While his aforementioned Bologna team only finished two places and three points behind Juventus, he wasn’t ready to take on the challenge of a team with a much bigger reputation. His replacement, Igor Tudor, who assisted under Andrea Pirlo, is an unknown quantity. Will he be allowed to lead the team in the 2025/26 season? He has the rest of the season to earn a contract extension as his terms currently only run until June 2025, and many believe he’s on track for a new deal, with odds at offshoresportsbook.com reflecting growing confidence in his future.
The Croatian manager is the first foreign manager to take the helm since the 2006/07 campaign. If his stay is not extended in Turin, the board must think long and hard about their next appointment to avoid another Thiago Motta disappointment. Maybe revert to an old favorite? Is Allegri up for a third stint? Roberto Mancini is free, as is Maurizio Sarri. Could either step into this role and help Juventus rebuild?
Over-reliance on Dušan Vlahović
Juventus is struggling because it put too much pressure on Serbian striker Dušan Vlahović. He’s been with the club since January 2022, and while he’s been a decent addition to the team, he’s not the quality of player Juventus needs up top.
The unfortunate truth for Vlahović is that he is not of the same quality as the forward players who preceded him in Turin. Cristiano Ronaldo, Paulo Dybala, Gonzalo Higuain, and even Carlos Tevez scored over 20 goals in a league campaign, all of whom won the title with Juventus; a decent correlation there: good strikers at Juventus = Juventus win the league. He’s got nine goals for the season…a little bit below par, to say the least.
Is it time to move Vlahović on? Sure, he’s only 25 and can become a better player, but will the club be that patient? Especially when they could attract top talent like Viktor Gyökeres, Jonathan David, or Sem Steijn to be a 20+ goal player.
No replacement in net for Wojciech Szczęsny
Setting up a team for success starts with a good goalkeeper. It isn’t easy to prosper without a capable player in this position. The shot-stopper role is often overlooked, as this player can lead communication with the team’s defensive units.
Wojciech Szczęsny was released by Juventus ahead of the 2024/25 season. The Polish international had made over 250 appearances for the club and helped them win numerous trophies. He wouldn’t be easy to replace – but neither Michele Di Gregorio nor Mattia Perin seems up to the task.
The kicker? Szczęsny had his contract mutually terminated in August 2024 because he would retire from football. However, he would join FC Barcelona after his 36-day retirement. Could Juventus not have probed further? He was willing to keep playing football…
The Juventus fear factor has gone
While the team can re-recruit its playing and coaching personnel, one attribute cannot be fixed overnight. Opposition teams used to fear and dread the iconic black-and-white kit coming to their homes or heading to Allianz Stadium. That’s no longer a strength that Juventus can draw on. The years of domination are long gone. Now that Inter Milan, AC Milan, and Napoli have all won the league, Juventus is clearly struggling. Teams now fancy themselves to win against Juventus, whereas, in the past, they would often wilt before kick-off.
How bad is it for Juventus?
Well, fifth in Serie A is the stuff of dreams for clubs with lower expectations – but for Juventus, this isn’t good enough at all. Especially considering that the team has no other silverware to play for. They were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League relatively early and didn’t pass the quarter-final stage of the Coppa Italia, either.