Having been eliminated from the UEFA Champions League and the Coppa Italia, Juventus now have the solitary aim of finishing in the top four of Serie A. However, after two disastrous results put that ambition at risk, the question of whether the Bianconeri should or should not sack Thiago Motta has come sharply into focus.
The Juve boss was already under immense pressure following last week’s 4-0 defeat at the hands of Atalanta – discussed in this previous column – but now a humiliating 3-0 loss away at Fiorentina has only seen that intensify.
With that in mind, what follows is a look at the reasons why it might be time for Juventus to change who is at the helm, but also why sticking with Thiago Motta could also be the right move.
Three Reasons Juventus Should Sack Thiago Motta
1. Juventus’ results are not good enough
The most obvious point – and the reason most coaches ultimately lose their jobs – is that the results have simply not been good enough. Champions League elimination at the hands of PSV Eindhoven was poor, while the Coppa Italia loss to minnows Empoli was a genuine source of embarrassment.
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Adding the two heavy defeats in Serie A to those cup exits paints a picture of a team struggling to deliver when it counts, with an overall league record of 13 wins, 13 draws and three losses.
Juventus now find themselves one point behind fourth place with nine games remaining. The Champions League revenue that comes with qualification is vital to the club’s long term financial health, making that top four finish essential.
2. Errors with Juventus team selections
There are of course a number of injuries that have hampered Juve’s performances this season, not least of which was losing Gleison Bremer after just six rounds of Serie A action.
Forced to do without the Brazil international for the rest of the campaign, there was bound to be knock on effect. Those six games saw Juve record three wins and two draws without conceding a single goal, while they also won both Champions League matches he played before being ruled out.
There have been other injuries too, but even taking those into account, Motta has made some decisions that have directly contributed to their results. Chief among those has to be repeatedly naming Teun Koopmeiners in the starting XI when the midfielder is clearly out of sorts.
Woefully low on confidence and a shadow of the player he was at Atalanta last term, Koopmeiners – who arrived at Juve at a cost of €51.3 million ($55.66 million) – is in the running as one of the club’s biggest ever transfer flops.
Yet Motta keeps handing him playing time despite overwhelming evidence he shouldn’t, while similar arguments can be made about the negative impact of Nico Gonzalez, Tim Weah and Nicolò Savona.
3. Juventus players have not responded
Another major issue has to be the failure to get the team fighting back after bad results. A week after losing to PSV, Juve were beaten by Empoli and a week after that came the humiliation against Atalanta.
Going into the game with Fiorentina, Motta described the encounter as “a chance to show what we are worth” only to watch his side once again be overrun and suffer yet another heavy defeat.
“The serious issue is that there was no reaction,” Juventus legend Alessandro Del Piero said during his analysis on Sky Italia. “This was a night that did not reflect the Juventus spirit at all.
“You can lose but with your head held high. Today, no one, neither on the bench nor in management, can be at peace or say they gave everything. There was no reaction on the field, none on the bench.”
Three Reasons Juventus Should Not Sack Thiago Motta
1. Juventus can’t always blame the Coach
When looking at reasons not to sack Motta, foremost among them has to be that there are more people responsible than just one man as well as looking at Juve’s recent history when it comes to dismissing coaches.
The players clearly must shoulder their share of responsibility, and so too must director Cristiano Giuntoli who built the squad that is failing to deliver on the objectives laid out before the season began.
Then of course there are Motta’s predecessors. Maurizio Sarri was given just one year at the helm, sacked despite winning the Serie A title in 2019/20 which now looks like an incredibly grave error.
He was replaced by Andrea Pirlo, who also lasted just 12 months despite finishing fourth and winning the Coppa Italia, a position Juve would love to be in right now. However, subsequent stints with Fatih Karagümrük in Türkiye and then Sampdoria have proven that parting ways with the 45-year-old was ultimately the right move.
Then of course came the return of Max Allegri in 2021. Unlike his two immediate predecessors, he was given three seasons at the helm, recording league finishes in third, fourth and seventh place, winning the Coppa Italia once.
In Europe, Allegri was eliminated from the Champions League in the Group Stage once, the last 16 once and failed to qualify in the other season as Juve unquestionably stuck with him for far too long.
2. Alternative coaches for Juventus are woeful
Following on from the idea that Motta should be judged after two years rather than one is the list of alternatives to replace him. According to most reports – including this one from La Gazzetta dello Sport – the names in contention to take over are Stefano Pioli and Roberto Mancini.
That hardly sounds inspiring and, despite their past accomplishments, their recent results, make it extremely difficult to make a case that either would be an improvement on Motta in 2026.
3. Thiago Motta could be exactly the Coach Juventus need
Finally, tying it all together, is the Coach that Thiago Motta could be. His thoroughly modern tactical approach – discussed in detail here – took Bologna to unprecedented success, but that was also in his second season.
In his first year in charge, the Felsinei finished ninth after recording 14 wins, nine draws and 10 losses with Motta at the helm. The following season, after minimal transfer activity, they achieved their first ever Champions League berth after notching 18 wins, 14 draws and just six losses.
His style is clearly therefore not something that is implemented quickly, but with a little patience can pay off in the best possible way. Of course there is more pressure in Turin than there is in Bologna, and there is no doubt the presitge of such a giant club ways heavily, but what if it worked?
Perhaps that more than anything provides a reason Juventus should not sack Thiago Motta.