That Maurizio Sarri was sacked when Juventus did not overtake Lyon to reach the Champions League quarter-finals was widely expected, but when his dismissal came on Saturday, it did not change the feeling of deep fatigue to what football has become. He had, after all, won the league this season, but that for Juventus is no longer enough. This is the happy truth for the modern elite: league titles have become so famous that they mean almost nothing on their own.
Much less expected was that Andrea Pirlo would be announced as his replacement within hours of Sarri’s ouster, apparently not considering any of the alternatives available. It is, frankly, an extraordinary decision, one that strikes a romantic point on a club legend made more by hope than any carefully considered plan.
“Today begins a new chapter of his career in the world of football,” a statement from the club said. ‘Like it was said about a week ago: from Maestro to Mister. As of today, he will be the coach for the people of Juventus, as the club has decided to entrust him with the technical leadership of the first team, having already selected him for Juventus Under-23. Today’s choice is based on the belief that Pirlo has what it takes to lead, from his debut on the bench, an expert and talented squad to pursue new successes. ”
It feels at the moment like every club wants their own Pep Guardiola. They want their own former player, one immersed in the traditions of the club, who can do what Guardiola did at Barcelona in 2008, to take over the club in a first senior coaching role and lead it to new heights . It is one of the main reasons that Manchester United appointed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Chelsea appointed Frank Lampard.
But Guardiola was appointed after an exceptional year in leadership over the reserve side. It was a gamble, but one based on serious evidence. Solskjaer was named after winning championships in Norway. Even Lampard had a moderate level of success during his season in the lead over Derby County in England’s second tier (before also replacing Sarri). Pirlo has nine days in lead over the Under-23s. Those first training sessions must have been sensational.
All this raises its own questions. When Pirlo was appointed Under-23 coach, was he already considered for the senior job? Did Juve directors already know they could snatch him in the role if Juve were relegated from Lyon? Or has this been a decision made in the past week on a random basis, by directors whose actions have become less and less in the past few seasons?
Daniele Badolato / Juventus FC / Getty Images
It’s obviously only a year ago, since Max Allegri was sacked after winning five league titles in a row, accepted because his football was less likely than Sarri to bring the Champions League title that Juve desire more than anything. And maybe it was. But the decision would have been more convincing if Sarri was not expected to produce free-flowing football from his Napoli side with Cristiano Ronaldo’s static individualism up front. Ronaldo remains a phenomenon, but to include him in the team is to accept that everything has to go through him, and that is not the Sarri way.
Pirlo was a cerebral player. The assumption is that understanding the angles of the game he demonstrated on the field will translate to tactical sharpness of the bench, although that does not always follow. His air of calm tenderness leads, in the same way, to the assumption that he will have no problems with the more political aspects of the job. But all that is unproven.
And whoever is in the lead has to deal with the Ronaldo problem. He was the first of the board’s gamblers to attempt to bring a first Champions League title to Turin since 1996, introduced at enormous cost despite his being at time 33, assuming his goals and his capacity to perform at key moments were what Juve missed. He is not disappointed, but his presence limits how his side can play. To use Ronaldo effectively in the late period, a club needs to do what Zinedine Zidane did at Madrid and build a team to serve him, take some risks and sit deep in midfield.
Yet at the same time, the board seems to be clinging to something more modern and progressive. Ronaldo is 35. He is no longer mobile. He has no place in an expansive team. No one has any idea what kind of football Pirlo can favor – there is virtually no evidence to pull it off – but it may be that the compelling demands of the Juventus board are incompatible.
.
