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EXCLUSIVE Marino: Juventus' summer moves are paying off
Today, Marino takes us through Giuseppe Marotta's summer transfer dealings, arguing that Juventus needed to turn over a new leaf to ensure long-term success.
Even the best teams eventually succumb to the ravages of time. Fabio Capello’s first Milan side won four straight Serie A titles and thrashed Barcelona 4-0 in the Champions League final, earning a reputation for invincibility.
Yet it all came crashing down but a handful of years later, when the club cycled through Oscar Tabarez, Arrigo Sacchi and Capello again in order to rediscover that winning touch. They would have to wait till 1999 to win the Scudetto again, and that was under Alberto Zaccheroni.
Sometimes, it takes a lot less for the worm to turn. Sometimes, a sporting director needs to act even as he’s being showered in champagne following a title celebration, lest he face the consequences.
In football, sporting directors and front-office staff often fail to recognize that a cycle has ended. and don't know that the time has come to begin a new one - whether through a lack of courage, the plaudits or simple unoriginality.
The results are always the same, often leading the same directors to try and fix things when it’s too late, something which gets harder and harder as time goes by, and which moreover risks compromising the following few campaigns.
This explains why Juventus’ ownership felt the need to rebuild last summer, despite coming off four consecutive Serie A titles and a Champions League final they were unlucky to lose.
It takes bravery to do away with the likes of Carlos Tevez, Arturo Vidal and Andrea Pirlo. It isn’t impossible to do the comfortable thing and keep them, even when stars of their calibre want to leave, but it can be counterproductive and become an increasingly bitter pill a couple of years down the line.
To maintain high levels of performance, a player can’t do without being in great physical and mental shape, something only achievable when he is completely, happily committed to the shirt, and feels like he is one of the club’s icons.
The flipside is having a player whose wallet is full, but whose head is in the clouds and not on the ball.
When a club is presented with the opportunity to change things up, it’s up to the coach and the sporting director to enter the breach.
Giuseppe Marotta and Massimiliano Allegri have been able to handle the situation with great sensitivity, spotting the red flags and beginning a brave rebuild, knowing that they’d be heavily criticised if they were unable to achieve results immediately.
Marotta brought his wits and experience to the table when he made the decision to suffer in the short term, in order to avoid having to do so in the longer term. He was hounded from all quarters early this season, especially regarding three of his marquee summer signings:
Dybala was pretty good, but overpaid; Alex Sandro an unknown quantity paid €26 million, and Mandzukic was finished!
Now, with that magical night in Turin still fresh in our minds, we realize that Marotta must have done something right, his team subjugating a team of elite players paid through the nose by Sheik Mansour for the second time this autumn.
Today, Alex Sandro is charging up and down the wing, providing his team-mates with an inexhaustible supply of inspiration and pin-point balls, and flashing his incredible quality.
Today, Dybala is scoring at an incredible rate, flaunting his immense quality and potential.
Today, Mandzukic has brought out his full repertoire, the same which earned him so many admirers at Bayern Munich.
The time has come to recognize that Beppe Marotta’s summer moves are proving to be inspired. His courage in tearing down his squad and rebuilding is destined to help the team in the long-term, not to mention the fans and the shareholders…
