What Went Wrong for Thiago Motta? | OneFootball

This time last year Thiago Motta and Bologna were the toast of Europe. The Brazilian-born coach’s novel tactical style had Bologna on the brink of Champions League qualification and on course to achieve their highest ever Serie A points total.

12 months on, after a disappointing Champions League debut, Bologna find themselves in fourth place in Serie A hoping to have another bite of the cherry next season. The team they are currently keeping out of the Top Four are Juventus, a club who have just sacked their former manager Thiago Motta and replaced him with Igor Tudor. Things do look as though they are starting to turn around, with two wins in three, including a fairly comfortable win over Lecce on Saturday. This victory puts them ahead in the battle for top 4 with Bologna having a difficult match against Inter this weekend.

This can also be seen by bookmakers, as most of them are listing Juventus as favourites to finish in the Champions League places. In fact, according to Stake.com Juventus are1/3 to end the season in this position. If you are interested in the odds or betting on the next games, you can have a look at the betting bonus available and reviewed by the reputable Oddspedia.

In the summer Motta was heralded as the saviour of Juventus and there were plenty of envious chairmen across Europe who would have rather had the 42-year-old sitting in their own dugouts, so what went wrong? Read on to find out.

(Thiago Motta was supposed to bring his beautiful football to Turin, but unfortunately off the field issues got in the way of that.)

People Problems

Thiago Motta’s ill-fated spell in charge at Turin has overtures of Brian Clough’s similarly ill-fated move to Leeds United in 1974. Like Clough, Motta was a highly rated coach with a novel playing style looking to make his mark on the big stage.

Also, like Clough, Motta was and is driven by an enormous self-confidence. Unfortunately for both, that self-confidence worked against them at Elland Road and Allianz Stadium respectively. In broad terms then, what went wrong for both was not something tactical but more personal – they both alienated their players.

Let’s have a closer look then at some of the key incidents that led Thiago Motta down the path of irretrievably losing the dressing room…

Brusque Nature

According to insiders from the club, the Juventus players never really took to Thiago Motta’s brusque nature. The Brazilian was and is a fan of saying it as it is. At Spezia and Bologna this approach went down well with players who were eager to learn from the coach.

At Juve however, where there are certainly more egos on the roster, Motta’s brusque and assertive speaking style seemed to turn some players off to him immediately. That provided him with an insurmountable barrier to implementing his unique playing style on the players.

(It seems that Thiago Motta had the exact same manner of speaking as Brian Clough did at Leeds United.)

Nicolo Fagioli and Danilo

In January, 24-year-old midfielder Nicolo Fagioli departed for Fiorentina with 33-year-old Brazilian defender Danilo having his contract terminated ahead of a move to Flamengo.  To say that the pair were not thought of highly by Thiago Motta would be an understatement.

Both were frozen out by Motta despite their ability and, in Danilo’s case, his dedication and loyalty to the club. Following Motta’s dismissal from the club, Danilo’s agent actually went on record as saying that he was happy to see the coach leave and said that he wished the club had hired Igor Tudor in the first place.

Yildiz Isn’t Messi

Another example of Motta’s poor interpersonal skills is the occasion when he lambasted Kenan Yildiz in training. For some reason, the Turkish winger became the target of Motta’s ire for a prolonged period that culminated in him calling him out in training, reportedly saying, “Who do you think you are!? You’re not Messi!”

The 19-year-old was apparently quite affected by this comment and the public nature of the dressing down from his head coach. So much so that several senior players within the squad voiced their displeasure at Motta.

(DISCLAIMER: The title of this video is 100% not endorsed by Thiago Motta.)

Coming to a Head

There is a tipping point to everything and it appears that Motta’s outburst at Yildiz was the tipping point for his time in Turin. From then on results on the pitch deteriorated dramatically, making it clear that the coach had lost the dressing room.

A devastating Champions League exit at the hands of PSV was followed by a Coppa Italia loss to Empoli. Whilst a 2-0 win over Verona papered over the cracks somewhat, a 4-0 defeat to Atalanta and a 3-0 reversal away to Fiorentina convinced the hierarchy at Juventus that it was time to go for Thiago Motta.

The Brazilian was asked to resign but refused, leaving Juve with no option but to terminate his employment and pay his contract out in full. Regardless of new coach Igor Tudor’s managerial capabilities, we would expect to see a marked improvement in Juventus’s performances now that they are no longer in open revolt at their manager.