Thiago Motta's Opportunity to Get to Know Juventus Better

The Juventus squad will face their future coach next season, Thiago Motta. Bologna's chance to close the season in the top three.

AFP/PIERO CRUCIATTI

Bologna coach Thiago Motta during the Italian League match between AC Milan and Bologna at San Siro Stadium on January 27, 2024. Motta is said to be replacing Massimiliano Allegri as the coach of Juventus.

BOLOGNA, SUNDAY — Bologna coach Thiago Motta got the best opportunity to get to know Juventus /a> when the two teams duel in Week 37 of the Italian League, Tuesday (21/5/2024) at 01.45 WIB, at the Renato Dall'Ara Stadium. "The Big Lady" will be accompanied by interim coach Paolo Montero after Massimiliano Allegri was fired, Friday (17/5/2024) yesterday.

Referring to rumors in Italian media, Motta is the leading candidate to fill the coaching position for Juventus in the 2024-2025 season. Juventus management, represented by Sports Director Cristiano Giuntoli, has deemed Motta as the ideal successor to Allegri, who ended his tenure with a Coppa Italia title in 2023-2024.

Unlike Allegri, Motta has a paradigm of dominating the opponent's play. Meanwhile, Allegri only prioritizes the final result. Juventus' monotonous play and minimal tactical alternatives are considered to be the cause of the failure of Si Nyonya Besar in maintaining consistency in the second half of this season.

Even though they can compete with Inter for the top of the standings in the first 22 weeks of the 2023-2024 edition of the competition, Juve is now threatened with leaving the top four zone. Juve are indeed able to win tickets to the Champions League next season, but they are 25 points away from Inter who have locked the scudetto.

Also read: Massimiliano Allegri's Small Farewell Gift

Juve was only able to score 49 goals from 53 expected goals (xG) from 36 games. The Big Lady only recorded an average of 49 percent ball possession per match. This record makes Juve less dominant than small teams, such as Frosinone (50 percent) and Monza (53 percent).

On the other hand, Motta has brought Bologna as one of the teams that prioritizes active gameplay. The team nicknamed "I Rossoblu" recorded a 58% ball possession per game. In that statistic, they were only surpassed by Napoli who created an average of 61% ball possession in every match.

AP PHOTO/GREGORIO BORGIA

Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri raised the trophy after his team defeated Atalanta in the final match of the Italian Cup at the Olimpico Stadium, Rome, on Thursday (16/5/2024) early morning local time. After the victory, Juve immediately fired Allegri.

In addition, Motta is also very close with young players. He brought Bologna, which has the second youngest squad in the 2023-2024 Italian League, to qualify for the Champions League for the first time.

Bologna is inhabited by players with an average age of 24.7 years. They are only older than the Lecce squad, which is reinforced by players with an average age of 24.1 years. The age of the Bologna squad differs significantly from the age of Inter players, which is 29.1 years.

In a few days, I will meet one-on-one with the president. We will communicate and make decisions together.

Motta relies on players under 25 years old as the backbone of I Rossoblu this season. They are Joshua Zirkzee (22 years old), Lewis Ferguson (24), Victor Kristiansen (21), Riccardo Calafiori (22), and Dan Ndoye (23).

The presence of Motta is expected to perfect Juve's squad regeneration mission that has been started by Allegri this season. Juve players who are still under 25 years old have the opportunity to become the mainstay under Motta's control, such as Kenan Yildiz (19), Andrea Cambiaso (24), Timothy Weah (24), Samuel Iling-Junior (20), and Carlos Alcaraz (21).

Also read: Juventus Must Aware of Reality

Juve also has two players with great potential who are on loan to other clubs, namely Matias Soule (21) at Frosinone and Dean Huijsen (19) who plays for AS Roma. Apart from that, Juve also has other talented young players in the Juventus Next Gen squad who are currently fighting in the Serie B promotion play-off round.

"Juventus are a strong team who have just won the Coppa Italia with their ability," said Motta about Juve at a press conference ahead of the match against the Big Lady, Saturday (18/5/2024), reported by Tuttosport.

LAPRESSE VIA AP/ALESSANDRO GAROFALO

Bologna player Joshua Zirkzee headed the ball during a Serie A League match against Napoli on May 11, 2024. Zirkzee is a key player for Motta in bringing Bologna to a position in the Champions League this season.

If he can beat Juve, Motta will bring Bologna to maintain third position. That would be the Rossoblu's best ranking since they won their seventh and final scudetto title to date in the 1963-1964 season.

Communication

Furthermore, Motta revealed that he will celebrate this season's journey after playing the final home game against Juve. He wants to first celebrate with the players, management, and Bologna supporters directly at the Renato Dall'Ara Stadium.

Afterwards, Motta has planned to speak with Bologna President Joey Saputo to discuss his future. He underlined his intention to inform Saputo and Bologna Technical Director Giovanni Sartori first before formally announcing his next career choice.

Also read: Juventus Danger Signal

"In a few days, I will have a one-on-one meeting with the president. We will communicate and make decisions together. The time to talk about my (future) has come, but I want to do it internally and show great respect to all parties in the club," said Motta.

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Motta has agreed to sign a two-season contract with Juve. The contract value is 3.5 million euros (Rp. 60.85 billion) per season. Fabrizio Romano, a transfer expert, said Motta only needed to put his signature on the contract with Juve.

LAPRESSE VIA AP/ALESSANDRO GAROFALO

Bologna coach Thiago Motta during the Serie A match between Napoli and Bologna, 11 May 2024.

Danilo, the central defender and captain of Juve, is determined to end the season with two positive results. After defeating Atalanta 1-0 in the Coppa Italia final, the Bianconeri have ended their winless record in six consecutive matches.

Even without Allegri's guidance, Danilo believes that the Juventus squad will strive to perform at their best. Montero, who is the U-19 coach at Juve, is also not a stranger to the Juve management. He often assists Allegri in training sessions for the main team.

"We will continue to fight to close this season as well as possible," said Danilo as quoted by La Gazzetta dello Sport.