The coach had asked for the redemptions of Conceiçao and the former PSG player in the summer, plus a top midfielder. Instead, Zhegrova, David, Joao Mario and Openda arrived, but none enjoyed the Croatian’s approval, who never got on well with Comolli
“Como is a small fake and the coach chose all the players, a good thing.” The phrase that Igor Tudor dropped in the middle of the last press conference on the eve of the match – and which irritated Cesc Fabregas – was actually a message that wasn’t even very coded for his management. Less than two months have passed since the closure of the summer transfer window, during which the Juventus coach’s statements were decidedly more conciliatory (“I have faith in the club, which knows my thoughts”) and now the discontent, also thanks to the complicated moment in terms of results, is starting to come to the surface, revealing latent tensions.
change of course
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Tudor has always been measured and conciliatory in his public statements, but he also has a decisive and smoldering character. If you let go it means there is more than one thing wrong. In the summer, when he understood that the resources to make the transfer were limited, he asked Damien Comolli to touch the team as little as possible, concentrating the budget on the redemptions of Conceiçao and Kolo Muani and on a strong midfielder. If Cristiano Giuntoli had remained, the former director of the club would have asked for 150 million to invest entirely in Tonali and Osimhen, purchases that Tudor had approved. But then everything changed and in Venice, after the last-gasp conquest of fourth place, Tudor even thought of resigning (it was Giuntoli who convinced him to stay, traveling to Split), also accepting a limited market, but at least he would have liked to have had a greater impact.
the market doesn’t come back
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In the end Comolli invested more than 100 million to bring Conceiçao, Zhegrova, David, Openda and Joao Mario to Continassa and apart from the first none of the others had his full approval. To Joao Mario he preferred the more complete Alberto Costa, sold for budgetary reasons, he had doubts about Zhegrova’s physical fitness (it’s difficult to blame him, given that so far he has been more in the infirmary than on the pitch) and he considers the two attackers as alternatives to Vlahovic. David doesn’t mind, but given the choice he would have wanted Kolo Muani because he was more flexible and able to guarantee more offensive solutions. He also asked for a full-back winger who knew how to defend and above all a dynamic midfielder, with time to come in and score goals in his legs. The club chose to postpone the midfielder, not being able to reach a top player like Tonali.
disagreements
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Tudor felt little listened to and his doubts about the new ones remained even after having tested them, as demonstrated by the fact that apart from David the others tested more on the bench than on the pitch. This is the reason for that sentence pronounced before Como-Juventus, a bit like when you speak to a daughter-in-law so that the mother-in-law understands. The harmony between Comolli and Tudor is at its lowest and perhaps the thing that most upset the balance was the failure to arrive of Kolo Muani, who was promised to him for an entire summer and then went on loan to Tottenham on the last day of the transfer market. At Lazio Igor had preferred to resign after realizing that there were differences of opinion between him and the club. And the thought, says those who know him well, also crossed his mind this summer, but he didn’t do it for the love of Juventus.
in the balance
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He stayed and now after just two months he finds himself alone and in discussion, with all the names for the succession already gone: from Mancini, explored in March for the post-Motta, who said no to Nottingham because he is waiting for Juventus, to Spalletti up to Palladino, with De Rossi a possible outsider. Madrid is the first obstacle to overcome, then there will be the Olimpico. Who knows if those players he didn’t choose will help him stay in the saddle.
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