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Should Juventus SACK Thiago Motta? (Extended Clip From Ep. 484)
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After yet another setback, this time in the Supercoppa Italiana semifinal against AC Milan, more and more calls are made about sacking Thiago Motta as Juventus coach.
Nima Tavallaey and Carlo Garganese, discuss, debate and analyze Motta's tenure at the Bianconeri so far as well as dig deep into Cristiano Giuntoli and his responsibility in these shortcomings.
This is an extended clip from this week's free Monday episode of The Italian Football Podcast which is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google podcasts.
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Transcript
Introduction and Juventus Overview
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Italian football podcast. We're going to start off with Juventus and Thiago Motta and for the first time really on this show I think we have to now ask the question because m his Juventus position for the first time really is starting to be questioned and and we're maybe not at the stage of He's at risk of the sack, but I think we're definitely at the stage where the question needs to be asked. And in my opinion, you know it's warranted to ask this question now. This is Juventus. It's the biggest club in Italy, the most successful club domestically in Italy. And
Juventus' Struggles and Motta's Future
00:00:46
Speaker
if you are halfway through the season, which is where we are now basically, and you're out of the top four and you've won just seven of your 18 Serie A games,
00:00:56
Speaker
And most importantly, which I think we'll come to in a bit, there are improvements improvements are not being seen in some of these key in some key areas, in particular the attack, then then yes, I think the question needs to be asked. And I think you'd be hard pressed to find anybody that wouldn't say that, what whatever side of the fence they're on, whether they're pro-mutter or not. And I think it's only fair, the question has to be asked, you know just like,
00:01:25
Speaker
It was asked and I asked it of Allegri and Pierlo before, who you know were similarly struggling at this stage of their of their first seasons. um I think the question needs to be asked. Do I think Mota should be sacked? Well, I think that's a different question altogether. and There's lots to take into account with that, which we can go through now. you know He's six months into a three-year project.
00:01:49
Speaker
It's a new project with a revolutionised squad. It's a squad that has gone from counter-attacking football for three years to possession-orientated football with an incredibly young team. It's the youngest team that have set new records for how young they are, this Juventus team in Champions League and Serie A. If you're going to sack Motta, do you make the decision to tear that project up after after six months so so really where I'm at is yes the question absolutely should be asked but should he be sacked and that's a different question altogether yeah that's kind of pretty much where I am too you know you know my position on sacking coaches and sacking managers it's
00:02:37
Speaker
It i I think it depends entirely on whether or not this has the working relationship between the coach and the players deteriorated to the point where you can't rehabilitate it, where they can't work together anymore, where the results are so awful that it warrants that you need to break everything up. I don't think we're there yet. I don't think we're close to there yet.
00:03:03
Speaker
um I understand, I mean, the question, should he be sacked is a resounding no um for the reasons you outlined. I think it would be complete insanity if you've anticipated that. I think it would be make them make Juntoli and make the Uwe leadership look like even bigger clowns and clueless than the Milan ownership and directors who did what they did against Fonseca. I think the biggest difference between Fonseca and Thiago Mota is exactly that. There were obviously some issues in the dressing room between the coach and the the players from pretty much the onset. though it just just didn't there was no There was something there that they didn't work in the most harmonious way
00:03:54
Speaker
and And of course, Milan are in a worse position than Juventus are.
Comparisons with Milan and Defensive Issues
00:03:58
Speaker
So I think but that's the biggest difference um between ah those two issues, those two instances. So no, I don't think i don't think he he should be sacked. I don't think he i don't think he will be sacked um for for the reasons I outlined.
00:04:19
Speaker
um But the question whether or not to I think the only reason the only will I agree with you I think the only way that you can sack him now is if he has either lost a dressing room or he doesn't have either the trust and belief of his squad and the club, but the squad especially, and but but more so he's not it's been proven that the squad and he's not able to so get a tune out of his ah would be squad and that I think was clear with Milan, it was clear with Milan and Fonseca that if he hadn't lost the dressing room he'd certainly lost the ability to
00:04:58
Speaker
to to to to influence, to to to get what he wanted out of the squad, to make it understood, but also to have that authority and that that um faith of his squad, we clearly didn't have. I don't feel, like we we obviously we we you can never say for sure, unless you're ah you're inside the dressing room, you can never say for sure what what the what the situation is. But from all from the people I've spoken to, no We're not that we're not we're not there. There isn't that situation. He hasn't lost control of it. There are some there are some some players ah that are not happy with some of his training methods and how that's contributing to injuries and fatigue, but we're not ah There's nobody that seems to doubt motto's ability as a coach in general um so while that's the case then
00:05:48
Speaker
I think that, yeah, you can't make the same decision that maybe Milan were able to make because Fonseca, that wasn't the case with Fonseca. Well, and also, these things matter, not just points, Tali, but Milan have lost four games in this area, Juventus have lost zero. These things are important as well. They haven't won, of course, ah they've won the same equal amount of games, of course, Milan have won less game played, they've won one-seven, but These things matter as well, like losing games, and they haven't lost games. And defensively, they've looked more solid than Milan overall in games, but it doesn't mean that ah they've been good defensively either, because with Juve, it's been like, yes, if the defense looks good, the attack looks atrocious, but when the attack looks good, the defense is wide open.
00:06:42
Speaker
So that suggests to me that, you know, these are more, you know, that's a problem, of course, but it's not like with Milan who. They beat Real Madrid and then they drop points against lower teams like time and time again like that. It's it's it's just a different dynamic. um yeah more It's more inconsistent, but I would say on the on the the defensive side, I think there's i mean if you know there's a noticeable drop off since the the injury to Bremmer with the defence. Even if you look at like the last month of games, Juventus have conceded two goals exactly in four of their last
00:07:16
Speaker
five games now. um and And then before the Man City game, they also conceded two against Bologna, they conceded against Lecce. You know, so so we're we're seeing like the Juventus are consistently starting to concede now. and I think that the effect of Bremmer um is being seen now. um it's it's The event has conceded more and more goals. and So he's goingnna you know he's going to lose that, he's got to be careful not to lose that credit as well because that has been the one thing that's kind of held Juventus together. um but so But yeah, I mean... And basically what I wanted to say is basically that I think there's this' there's a really there's an important
00:07:56
Speaker
ah difference ah between what happened at Milan and Juve. ah And and and and my my issue is that I think with, if we're going to talk about Thiago Mota more specifically, um I do think that he has the results aren't good enough. um I think the results are Yes, the injury issue is is a Juventus club problem, and it has been for many years.
Injuries, Vlahovic's Form, and Young Talent
00:08:30
Speaker
They need to look at that. I can't blame Mota for that, because it's been happening under Allegri as well. um and And there are several other aspects as well, important aspects that have happened under under Allegri and now under Mota, such as Dushav Laovic, which I think is a huge, huge important factor. Juventus, no team can have their starting number nine.
00:08:50
Speaker
be this ice cold for such a long period of time and it not have an adverse impact on their results, maybe only Inter can or or Napoli to a much lesser extent can get away with that because of the way that they the quality they have in midfield.
00:09:10
Speaker
ah the quality they have in other players that can make up for that, and and also other strikers, but they play differently. And same thing with Napoli, you got someone like Scott McTominay in the contest system that excels because of the system, right? These are different things. And I think that, you know, of course, Tiago Mota has to kind of reach that level too. But the Dusan Vlawovic situation has been a situation that has been ongoing, and I think he's saved a little bit by that.
00:09:34
Speaker
when he can't even rehabilitate Dusan Vlawic, then there's, you know, then Juventus will have to be forced to act, but regardless... regard Just before he gets to regardless, just before he gets to regardless, because let's get the excuses out of the way first. The injury crisis and Vlawic, the injury crisis, there's no doubt the injury crisis has ravaged events this season. You know, there was a period of two months, ah kind of in November,
00:09:58
Speaker
ah end of October, November into December, where Juventus only had like a couple of outfielders on their bench for long stretches of those two months. I mean, Juventus have lost their best player.
00:10:11
Speaker
for the whole season in Bremer. and They haven't been put able to put a senior back line out for stretches this season. People forget that Savona was a next-gen player at the beginning of the season. he but He was rushed into the team because of lack of options and he just kind of stayed there and he's done well. but yeah Well that's another thing as well. So the the point I'm making is, you know and then they've had one striker if you can call him a striker for the first half of the season. One one completely useless, let's be honest, useless striker to pray for the inside season. Now that is going to massively impact any manager, but it's easy to overlook because that's what happens. once Once injuries happen after a couple of months, a few months, people forget that you're without your best player for the whole season and then they just do they just forget about it.
00:10:55
Speaker
um and it sort doesn't matter. you know we do i mean but I'm just going through the excuses here. We'll get to the the where he's fading in a second, but you know that that that would affect any manager, especially a manager that's just starting a new team um with all these revolutionary but all the revolution that's taken place with changing the style, changing so many new players,
00:11:18
Speaker
having the youngest team in in the in the league, and you know, that would affect anybody. um So, you know, I think... But that's the thing, though, that's what I wanted to say. I think that's also the saving grace in Bangula, Savona, Yildiz. The fact that he is making young players look good and improving, nobody expected in Bangula and Savona to have the impact they had, you know, Yildiz was an unwritten card. Great.
00:11:44
Speaker
great talent, but he was unwritten. we you know You see that with Thiago Motta, and that's kind of if he continues on with with what he did at Bologna as well, the sense that he he can improve young players. And as long as he can improve young players, and as long as young players respond to him, then then you know his his his tenure at Juve won't be in in court. But I do have to come back on that. hill and this is so way let me finish let me finish Until the results in the Serie A become out of the top four, then they have to act. um But I don't think we're there yet. I don't think Juventus are going to finish outside the top four. But if we go to the other side of it, there is lots of cause for concern. And the game against Milan
00:12:30
Speaker
In isolation, it doesn't mean much, but it's an expression of a tendency that we've seen pretty much since Match Day 4-5 onwards in the Serie A until today, and that is that Juventus can't kill off games. Juventus are in control of games.
00:12:49
Speaker
But ah in the second half, or in the middle of the second half, fall apart and lose complete control and lose complete ability to control games. That is a concern. That is where Tiago Motte has failed more than anything.
00:13:07
Speaker
Well, umm I think it's that's true. But I think it's the reason why they can't kill off games is is the and there is because they can't they don't create enough chances. and they can't and they And so they're not going to score a second goal. ah that's the That is the big problem. And that is the biggest concern. That's the only real concern I have with Mota, because this has been a constant throughout the season. And you said since game four, I would say even from game one, I mean, the 3-0 win over Cuomo and the 3-0 win over Veron, if you look at the XG,
00:13:37
Speaker
in that game. They way overshot their XG. They had a 1.31 XG against Cormor. They had a 1.36 XG against Verona and I think wasn't one of them a penalty in that game. I think i think one of the goals was a penalty if I'm not mistaken um in in that Verona game.
00:13:55
Speaker
you know so Even in those matches, they they they were just they were over so they were they out ah you know they outperformed their their actual XGs. This has been a constant all season. Juventus do not create enough chances and this is where it is a serious problem because we are not seeing an improvement in the chance creation, the goals going yes, there are a lot of reasons for this, which I've gone through, the injury crisis, the fact you've only got one sub-par striker that clearly doesn't fit not a system, the fact that Niko Gonzalez has barely been fit at all, and you know, Lealdis is 19 years old and is going to be inconsistent at that age, of course, these are all reasons, um but
00:14:37
Speaker
Even when these players have been available, as they were, and most of them were available in the Milan game, um okay, Nico's not fully fit, and okay, Consistel gets an injured before the game, but even when he's had most of the the offensive players available, um we're still not seeing enough of a chance creation against Milan, they barely created anything.
00:14:56
Speaker
The only
Persistent Challenges and Tactical Criticism
00:14:57
Speaker
real big chance they had was that the the ah chance for Wlawicz and 1-0, because they're not creating enough chances. And because we're not seeing an improvement, for me, that is where Mota's future is most at risk, because we're not seeing an improvement. That's that's what I was going to get to. I think the ch the lack of chance creation is more is is a combination of both Mota's inability structurally as a coach to how to create teams that create enough. And also, because I think so far,
00:15:26
Speaker
between Corp Miners, David Luis, Douglas Luis, sorry, might as well be David Luis, Douglas Luis and Nico Gonzalez, that's 130 million euros, which to this date, on the 6th of January, has been a complete waste of money. Yeah, that's the other area. That's what I was going to say. Let me finish. um i My issue here is Tiago Mota um you Yes, the chance creation can be a problem if you don't have you know strikers who can help you out, blah, blah, blah. But the problem is the midfield isn't creating enough. This isn't a striker issue as such. This is more a structural issue with Mota. That's what he was able to do when he was at Bologna because of players like Calafiori, because of players like Zirksir, who broke the patterns
00:16:17
Speaker
ah Of games because ah of the because of the kind of characteristics they had whether it was hold up play and link up play with zirksa or running and breaking lines and press with califiori, they were able to mask a lot of that and also it's bologna teams aren't going to defend as deeply against you right.
00:16:34
Speaker
But here, I do see a structural problem in Thiago Motta's way, the way that he builds and structures. And that is, he knows how to position teams to get out, and it looks good in safe spaces. I've said this before, but as soon as they get near the opposition's penalty area, the creativity, the plan flatlines. There is, doesn't seem to be any structure in place for the for the final, final third.
00:17:03
Speaker
And that is our motto. Now, some of that, you you can kind of say, well, that's that the midfield, all three of them. or Sorry, that the midfield trio should help out, right? And someone like Kiefer and Turam has has, in recent games, shown an ability to kind of you know, mal mask up for that. But it doesn't change the fact that Louise Koop miners is just not working. No, that's damming. Koop miners and and and Douglas Louise. And that's, but it's not just on, on Motta, that's also on Juncely. Without now. There's also, there needs to be a real ah proper investigation into into that, into the Koop miners. Looking to do an analysis, what's going on? Because that is damming. Koop miners,
00:17:48
Speaker
he's persisting and this is chris He keeps persisting with Koopmeiners as a number 10, it's clearly not working. Whether that's also because Blauwitsch is so useless um and and that is that that's not helping him, if if, maybe, if and when, if and when Dierksi comes in, whether suddenly Koopmeiners starts playing well as a number 10, it's clearly not working. and The fact, and this is my other criticism of Motu, the fact that he keeps persisting, you know it's a cliche, but the the definition of insanity, as as has been repeated so many times, is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting things to change. you know We're just going round and round and round in circles with Motu. It's like like the the the famous seat scene from Squid Game with that ah that song that everybody that the most that everybody keeps
00:18:34
Speaker
but be playing in the last week of them going round and round encircle G.G.Bondo song the Korean song like he just goes round and round and circles the same thing over and over and over again and it's the same tune all the time and and he's still but he's still persisting with it when it's clearly not working why is he persisting with coop miners as a number 10 it's not working yeah so he needs to change something if it ever it goes to a 4 3 3 and plays coop miners deeper whether you just play coop miners in the in the double pivot i don't know you Why are you playing Kukman as a 10? It's not working. He was abysmal against Milan. He was the only player on the pitch. The only player on the pitch was worse than him was Blauwitsch. That Blauwitsch performance against Milan was was so, so bad. It was embarrassing. It was absolutely... Matteo Benetti, ah check his Twitter feed, he did a compilation of his of his game. Like the most basic controls, the most basic six yard passes that he was getting wrong.
00:19:33
Speaker
Ball was coming to him and he was and he was tried to trap it and he went under his foot I mean, it was like watching, you know, it was like watching a Sunday league donkey after after that drunk from the night before that's how bad embarrassing how bad Vlauviฤ is it I mean You know, I don't know what to say about Vlauviฤ The thing is like it's not just even sitters anymore. It's not just it's It's not him just missing sitters. It's not the fact that he he can't make simple passes. It's it's just it's genuinely awful at every level. um He looks mentally off as well, which can happen. You know, things can become at one environment.
00:20:25
Speaker
It doesn't work out and you leave and go somewhere else and it just works for you because you find in a place where you where you're happy and you're enjoying yourself. and you know just you know Sometimes life just doesn't work out in certain places. But if we're talking from a football technical point of view, the issues are still the same. He can't play with his back against the ball with his back against the goal. He can't link up. His passing, his ability to put others into play to help him is atrocious.
00:20:55
Speaker
um his attitude just off. um and And I had to stick up for Motta here with Wlowicz because I've seen a lot of criticized criticism for for Motta for taking off Wlowicz midway through the second half against Milan when Juventus were 1-0 up at that time and then Juventus end up losing 2-1 and people kind of trying to put the two together that taking Wlowicz off event the you know is what cost Juventus the game and blah blah blah.
00:21:22
Speaker
Did anybody watch the 65 minutes that Vlovich put in? That's probably the worst performance I've seen from Vlovich in the Juventus shirt, and there are a lot of contenders for worst performance, let me tell you that. It was absolutely horrendous. I don't i can't, anybody that watched that game and tell me that they wouldn't have taken Vlovich off, even if you've got no striker on the bench, he was so bad. Every single ball that came to him he lost. So I'm sorry, um I cannot criticize Motta for taking Vlovich off in that game.
00:21:50
Speaker
It's unfortunate that that we've had a whole so first half of the season where he's had no other striker to use. And that's on Ginterby. That's not on Mota. You know, Mota didn't criticise for taking Mota too much. Yeah, no, I think that's the right thing to do. And I think when when it's not working, when you've tried everything else, because again, there's this context here, Allegri tried everything with him too, and it just didn't work. It looked somewhat better. You had, what, 15 goals last season in the Serie A. But the fact that this guy can't play with his back against the goal in a one, in in a single, pre like a one number nine system is a, is a Wlawicz problem. You can't even control the ball never, like hold the ball up, you can't even control it. this has been yeah But this has been going on for a long time now.
00:22:36
Speaker
um the only time now he's a lost cause limo let's just just say what it is he's gone he's done this is this this is the thing when when he was at Fiorentina they were there were a side that attacked the space and he scored a lot when he was faced towards goal but when you play for the biggest sides regardless in Italy, Spain, Germany, for England you're gonna have to learn to play with your back against a goal in order to succeed and The only time that someone like Romelu Lukaku was world-class was when he was under with under Antonio Conte, because he taught him how to do that. Vlawovic has had two coaches now, who one established coach, one new up and coming, who evidently can work with young players and improve players. Both of them can't seem to get him to do it. He can't control the ball. He can't seem to do it. And that is a Vlawovic problem. That's not an Allegri problem. That's not a Mota problem.
00:23:31
Speaker
That's a Vlovich problem, and that needs to be taken care of in the sense that i was I've been on the fence because I wanted to give him time, but at this point, I think it's time to get rid of him.
00:23:43
Speaker
I think i that's obvious. The problem is no, no i no, no, I think it's they have to get rid of him. I think it's just not when he got a scar us here is then there's a possibility that he could even go this month. um I think if the possibility, the opportunity is there to to get rid of him in January, I would get rid of him. But then you have to bring someone in. And that brings us on to January transfer window, because like if you get rid of Mota, which I don't think is going to happen, if you get rid of Mota, it has to be now.
00:24:07
Speaker
Like right now today tomorrow before you sign players because if you if you're gonna bring in players that are motto players Like Xerxes, for example, who are you venters are in talk in talks for at the moment? Then there's no point bringing in Xerxes and then second motto in two weeks and then another coach comes in and it you know and it ends up being like a Man United where the coach doesn't want him, you know is is you you you bring in players for Motta. So if you're going to stick with Motta, then you stick with him and you bring in players that work for his system and Zikzi is one of those players. And with regards to that comes in nicely with Vlovic, like with Zikzi, I think he can help a lot.
00:24:46
Speaker
um know he can help to link the game up, to hold the ball up, to bring others into play, to make the other attackers and the midfielders that that are going to be attacking forward, to make them better and to to create more for them and hopefully get them to score more goals. Will he score more than Vlovic? No, I think he'll score less than Vlovic. Vlovic does still have 12 goals this season somehow, I know a few of them are penalties. Vlovic does still have 12 goals in all competitions which you know, it means he'll probably end the season with 24, 25 goals in all comps, which isn't actually that bad. But it masks the, you know, the other problems that ZXC will hopefully solve. So whether or not, you know, this is going to solve Juventus' goal scoring issues, you know, 30 goals in 18 Serie A games is simply not good enough. um XG of 29 is not good enough. Will ZXC
00:25:43
Speaker
solve that? I don't know. is is is I can't say for certain that he will. I think he will make the team play better though. and the thing is like I think there's two aspects to the Zirksi discussion. We know that Tiago Mota can get fantastic levels out of Joshua Zirksi. There's no doubt about that. We've seen that.
00:26:02
Speaker
um i i do Do I think that he works better in a motta system? Yes, of course he does, because the number nine in the motta system is is almost, is is a midfielder almost. you You have to, you know, they like to compact and overload the central midfield and then have dynamic midfielders and and and wide players who can who can help out to to to create numerical advantages and create more chances. Like I think absolutely Ziggs works better than that.
00:26:27
Speaker
um I even think that in terms of goal scoring, I can't remember if Zirksi took penalties at Bologna, but um regardless now he didn't and they maybe took one maybe yeah yeah but regardless, I think he's more important for the overall play and I think he's still a young player and he can he can maybe become he's the kind of player Zirksi that I think He's the kind of striker that usually that kind of a striker, they hit the goal scoring peak from 28, 29 onwards. um But regardless, i my concern about the Zirksir transfer is, and we're talking about a player who's been pretty mentally abused at Manchester United. How broken is Zirksir if he were to come to Juve?
00:27:14
Speaker
And can you afford to rehabilitate him and give him the time to rehabilitate him? That's what my concerns with ลฝiลพe is. Not that he would work at under Mota or in Seria or at Uwub or anything like that. Well, Juventus have to do something. they cut these is is I think it's pretty clear. You cannot go the second half of the season with Vlauviฤ, just Vlauviฤ, as your striker. Milik, who's had another little injury problem, doesn't you know he's going to be out for still a while longer. And when he comes back, he would have been out for pushing on a year. So I mean, that's obviously ridiculous. and So they need to sign someone and Zixi seems to be available. and But Junzli has to prove himself, you know, obviously, he yeahs another he needs to sign dependence. So far, you know, his transfer, overall transfer market has failed. Some of his some of his transfers have worked and been good, you know, like Kalulu has been really good. ah You know, Conse sell, I think has shown enough to show that, you know,
00:28:08
Speaker
he he he can have a he's he's going to be an important player for Juventus going forward. um You know, some of his transfers, Tarama, I think has been good. Di Grigore, even though he was terrible against Milan, I think he's been pretty good. so I mean, there has been success stories there. Even Cabal was good and until until he got the injury and that's unlucky. He blame him for that. But also, you know, there has been some huge, huge failures, especially Luis and Kukmanis for the money that was spent.
00:28:34
Speaker
Those were the big signings, those were the big financial undertakings yeah in the summer and they've both missed. And the gaps that he did yes and the gaps that he didn't solve, like go in ah going into the season with just Vlovich, having to spend the first half of the season with just Vlovich as your only striker, that's unforgivable, that's that's a huge failure, the biggest failure of all. you know And and that's and that's also like that's also part of the reason that I wanted to i wanted to bring that up and I think that Juntoli is is very capable. I think he's he's good at what he does. I think we should give him time too, but the buck has to stop with him. He's the one who's responsible for the sporting project. He's the one who's responsible for the structure of this new Uwe. And although there are positives,
00:29:16
Speaker
there are also very, very big failures and negatives. And he the the the that they the buck has to stop with him. He has to take responsibility for that. Does that mean he has to leave? Of course not. That's stupid. Let's remember that Marotta failed in his first year and a half or two at JUVA as well. ah It took some time.
Transfer Strategies and Future Fixtures
00:29:34
Speaker
Yeah, it took some time for JUVA under Marotta to settle down, um for things to you know go into gear.
00:29:44
Speaker
So I think we should give Giuntoli this season, but I'm looking at it from next season that he can't afford, already in January, if they're going to do something, they can't afford to F this up. Well, i'm I'm critical of Giuntoli already because um for January already, I have to be honest, we're January the 6th now. and Now Bremmer done his ACL in you know October, when was it? Beginning of October. I mean, he's had like pushing on three months now.
00:30:11
Speaker
to to prepare and plan to get in a replacement for Bremer. Then of course you had the Cabal injury as well and which was which was but no event beginning of November so that's two months. We shouldn't be here now at ah the 6th of January and it's completely unclear as to um who who Juventus are going to sign a centre back. There was Tomori, there was Hanschko from Feynord, there was the Benfica guy Antonio Silva. Tomori, since the the change around, that that doesn't look like it's going to happen because Conseil's sales come in. Hanschko's probably too expensive at the moment, and Antonio Silva probably too expensive. you know We shouldn't be in a situation with January the 6th. And the biggest criticism I have is is that Juventus have made the decision as a club
00:30:59
Speaker
and this is through Junzli to completely freeze out Danilo. Juventus are already completely and massively understaffed even with Danilo, who I'm not a fan of. I think he's finished so as a top player and he's and he's not good enough, but you should not be freezing out one of your few bodies in January already. So he won't play again now for Juventus. You should not be freezing out Danilo ready to sell him when you don't have a replacement already already already in place so Juventus have had to play the super cup and now they're going to have to play the Turin Derby and they've got three huge tough games coming up after that they don't even have one defender they need two defenders in January for maybe three if you're getting rid of Danilo ah pop well probably yes almost certainly you need three defenders if you get rid of Danilo you need an extra defender so that's three defenders they haven't brought anyone in and it's complete and it doesn't seem like any negotiations
00:31:48
Speaker
I mean, I might be wrong, they might bring some two players in tomorrow, but it doesn't look like there's any negotiations that are going on that are close to bringing in a player or two or three. And you've got just you've just frozen out Danilo, so you've got even less options now in defence.
00:32:05
Speaker
That's ridiculous. Just do not do that. Why do you freeze out Danilo? Keep playing him, then sell him once you've got someone in. I mean, I have to be critical. He's had three months, two months and three months to plan for this. They should have already had someone in already by now. At least one defender should have been signed or very, very close to signing and we're being sold while they're in the final negotiations, blah, blah, blah. We're not even close to that.
00:32:29
Speaker
and So I'm sorry, but I'm not impressed by the way Junstly start this January market either ah He needs to he needs to get moving and he needs to prove himself fast because because Juventus have coming up Torino away Atalanta away Milan home Napoli away That's their next four games in Serie A then they have an Inter in the middle of February as well now You know Juventus are three points off the off fourth place right now after this run of games and with the options you know lack of options in defence I'm talking about, with the problems and in ah in an attack, with the form that they're in. I mean, they they could be out of the top four. They could be seven, eight, nine points behind if they you know things go badly in those games. Juntzli should have moved by now. We should have players in already now. So i'm I'm not happy with Juntzli, the way he started this journey. He needs to get moving.
00:33:20
Speaker
Yeah, no, he he does. He absolutely does. And it's been pretty pretty damning that he already, the that he hasn't, you know, especially with Cabal and Bremer gone and, dan you know, pushing Danilo. I get why you want to push Danilo. But like you said, it's it's he's had a couple of months to do it um and it doesn't look like he's doing much. But then we've seen these tamoorings. I mean, I'm not, you know, let' let's wait and see what happens. But yeah, I'm not too impressed with what he's done. I think he. But again, like I said,
00:33:49
Speaker
I give him this season because last season was not a real season. like They couldn't do anything because of the blowback after Paratici. So this is the first season I think he's really we we can judge him on. But he has to get to start getting it right already this January. So we'll see what happens by the end of January. But I do think that there's plenty of blame to go around. And I think there's been mistakes made. The question is, of course, are these mistakes irreparable? I don't think they are. I think they're more than reparable.
00:34:19
Speaker
And of course, where do you go? I don't think it's time to blow that project up yet. I don't think it's we're there yet. But I do think that serious questions need to be asked. um And Tiago Mota has to start to deliver tactically, especially in the final third, regardless of who the players are speaking players are playing. Of course, the quality of players matter. But when things flatline and consistently flatline for half a season, as soon as you approach the opposition's third,
00:34:50
Speaker
There is a problem. It's not just a personnel issue. It's a tactical issue. And that is where I think Mota has failed. And I think it's right to criticize and question him.