Pirlo & Ronaldo -- correcting two mistakes

The reasons behind the elevation of Andrea Pirlo to head coach at Juventus tells us a lot about the situation that Italian football's 'Old Lady' (along with many of the great European clubs) currently find themselves in. The board decided that come what may, Maurizio Sarri would not continue next season. His personality did not gel with others, principally with Chiellini and Cristiano Ronaldo who never bought into what the coach was trying to sell them.

Barzagli was Sarri's assistant until March when he decided to leave the club to "spend more time with the family"; in reality, his motives for moving aside were more to do with his inability to be able to work with Sarri. The incompatibilities were so pronounced, in fact, that Bonucci and Buffon had to intervene in order to create an uneasy truce that would lead to the winning of the league title and what everyone hoped would be a good Champions League. To achieve that, play reverted more to the style of previous coach Allegri rather than to that of Sarri, whose instructions were consistently ignored.

Plans to replace Sarri were devised some time ago although the name of Pirlo was not on anyone's go-to list. Then, the morning after Juventus were eliminated from the Champions League, president Andrea Agnelli called a meeting of the board. Director of football Fabio Paratici proposed a team of Mauricio Pochettino and Simone Inzaghi, while vice-president Pavel Nedved also suggested the name of the ex-Italian player along with that of Paulo Sousa.

Agnelli explained what he was looking for in two words; enthusiasm and attractiveness. Zidane was the coach that he wanted except there wasn't sufficient time to negotiate it and neither did he believe that he could take him away from Madrid. In the end, the decision was made by Agnelli himself. It would be Pirlo, who is enthusiastic, attractive.... and cheap. The talk is he will be paid around €2m a year. At the end of the day, the last time the president made the choice off his own back was nine years ago (Antonio Conte) and it didn't exactly work out badly back then.

 

What Juventus have looked for is an option that, although risky, is at least affordable. Juve were already facing great financial difficulties that the pandemic has only served to accentuate. For months now it has been common knowledge among the offices of all the biggest clubs in Europe that Juve want to free themselves of the salary of Cristiano Ronaldo, a player who still has two years left on his contract. Initially, there was talk of Real Madrid and now PSG, but that is all it is. Mendes is doing his job.

On the BBC I made the mistake of saying that he had been offered to Barcelona instead of what I meant to say but it came wrong: that in the Camp Nou offices they know Juventus wants to free their accounts of his huge wage (although nobody is able to afford it). A minor adjustment to the wording leading to a totally different interpretation, for which I apologise.