There are a number of reasons why Juventus, correctly, parted ways with manager Thiago Motta. Each on their own might not have justified his sacking, but taken collectively, the club had no real choice: he had to go. Here are eight reasons why he’s gone, and three things Juventus need to get right going forward, because Motta can’t be the only scapegoat here.

Reason 1: League position

Juventus are fifth in Serie A, one point off the Champions League places, but also behind Motta’s old club, Bologna, and with both Roman clubs (Lazio in sixth, AS Roma in seventh) breathing down their necks in the table. They’re on pace for 68 points, which is fewer than last season.

Reason 2: Early exits in cup competitions

Juve qualified for the Champions League playoffs by a single point, after finishing 20th of 36 teams, and then were bounced out by PSV Eindhoven, who would end up conceding seven at home to Arsenal in the next round. In the Coppa Italia, they were knocked out, at home, on penalties by Empoli, who are in the relegation zone and were resting a number of starters.

Reason 3: Performances in key matches

The recent defeats against fellow Champions League aspirants Atalanta and Fiorentina loom large, but you can include the final group game against Benfica (an 0-2 loss at home) and the return leg against PSV Eindhoven (3-1 away). They played with a lack of intensity and lack of urgency.

Reason 4: The eye test

Their buildup play is slow, creativity limited and possession sterile. Weirdly, they look nothing like Motta’s Bologna side, which did so well last season and whose performances, presumably, got him the job.

Reason 5: Poor player judgment

Juventus moved heaven and earth to sign Douglas Luiz from Aston Villa in a deal worth more than €50m, and then Motta started him in just three of the 17 league games in which the midfielder was included in the matchday squad. Motta wrote off Moise Kean in the summer, off-loaded him to Fiorentina and now he’s the second-leading scorer in Serie A.

Motta decided he didn’t like Nicolo Fagioli, loaned him to Fiorentina (again) and now the young midfielder is a mainstay. He also froze out club captain Danilo, even after Gleison Bremer’s injury, leaving him to leave the club by mutual consent.

Reason 6: The handling of Dusan Vlahovic

The fact that the veteran center-forward had an escalator clause in his contract with his salary ballooning to unaffordable levels (a monstrous €22 million a season or $23.8m) is not Motta’s fault. Nor is the fact that Juventus weren’t able to shift Vlahovic during the transfer window. But the fact that, with the clock ticking on his contract (which expires in 2026), the club simply cut down his minutes and did nothing to showcase him is down to Motta.

The Serbian No. 9 started just one of six league games in 2025. This, despite the fact that, even with his limited minutes, he’s the club’s top scorer.

Reason 7: Confusion

Whether it’s his wacky policy to rotate the captain’s armband or his penchant for continually changing players’ positions on the pitch — Tim Weah has played five different positions, from right-back to center-forward, Weston McKennie has had six different roles and Lloyd Kelly, signed as a central defender, has been a staple at left-back — there’s a lack of clarity to what Motta was trying to do. It’s one thing to be flexible: it’s another thing when your own guys don’t understand what you’re trying to do.

Reason 8: Communication

Juventus isn’t just any club. There’s a lot that comes with the role and he never quite seemed to understand that it goes beyond simply sending out a lineup and making substitutions. Whether it was throwing his players under the bus after the Coppa Italia defeat, giving off perpetual “lack of urgency” vibes — reportedly, it’s what prompted the club to sack him after a lunchtime meeting last Friday in which he appeared detached — or deteriorating relationships with many players (as of Monday early afternoon, 24 hours after his departure, just one had taken to social media to thank him), Motta seemed to have a knack for saying the wrong thing or affecting the wrong image, both internally with the players and externally with the fans.

---

It’s not all about Motta, though. He was empowered to make bad decisions and there has to be accountability for that too. So here are three further steps the club needs to take.

Step 1: Take a long, hard look at Cristiano Giuntoli

Sure, the Juve sporting director took over a financial basket case with €320m of losses in the previous two seasons and bad contracts on the books. But there’s also a string of dubious decisions, both incoming (Carlos Alcaraz, Tiago Djalo) and outgoing (Dean Huijsen, Nicolo Rovella) that have little to do with Motta. And, of course, most of the moves with Motta at the helm haven’t lived up to the cost: from Nico Gonzalez to Kelly, from Teun Koopmeiners to Douglas Luiz.

Giuntoli’s job is to identify talent that helps his manager do his job and deliver it at the right price. Except, it’s pretty obvious that hasn’t worked out the way it was hoped. If he needs help in terms of scouting or oversight in terms of not doing bad deals, or an HR course in terms of how to keep the players happy with their boss, then Juventus need to get him that. Or get themselves a new sporting director.

Step 2: Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater

For all the (rightful) criticism that Giuntoli and Motta deserve, there have been positives too. Young players from Juventus Next Gen have been given space and, by and large, have shown they can contribute, whether Nicolo Savona or Samuel Mbangula or Kenan Yildiz. That’s the way forward. After years of ignoring the youth system under previous bosses, some were given a chance in the Giuntoli Era. There’s no reason to reverse that.

Step 3: Give Igor Tudor a chance and, if not, don’t lose sight of the big picture

All the buzz about interim boss Igor Tudor has been about how much he loves the club and how he can install “Juve values” (whatever that means) and how important it is for them to finish in the Champions League places. That’s great, but if he does well and you think he can take you forward, give him a chance to persuade you that he deserves the job long term.

Don’t get me wrong: I don’t think Tudor is the second coming of Pep Guardiola. His career is chequered and some will tarnish him with his year as Andrea Pirlo’s assistant (though what many forget is, with hindsight, that season was nowhere near as bad as some suggest), but he has had more hits than misses. (Though one valid question is why — after doing relatively well, as he did at Marseille and Lazio — he doesn’t stick around.)

Give Tudor a chance to impress you, and if it doesn’t work, don’t listen to that portion of the fan base (and the ownership) who seem oblivious to the reality of the financial situation and who will instantly demand an Antonio Conte or a Roberto Mancini (with the sort of spending that immediately follows).

Juventus are still in transition, but there’s a blueprint there, however imperfect (and however imperfect Motta was and Giuntoli might yet prove to be). Departing from that now would be a mistake.