It was not supposed to be this way. Just a few days earlier all looked so promising. Juventus had a solid core in their prime, while simultaneously reloading with the next generation of Bianconeri stars, and a young, ambitious coach to match.
Sure, nothing lasts forever. Even in the most sustainable projects, coaches move on, teams rebuild. It’s a fact of life in any sport, calcio in particular. Three years is a long time for any one coach in the Italian top flight, with demanding fans and press. In this instance, however, there was no end of cycle. There were no disappointing, trophyless seasons. There were no calls for changes on the Monday morning front pages. It all still seemed as if it was just the beginning.
I wish I had tweeted and thus had a record to memorialize this thought with a timestamp – but the day before the World Cup Final I was out on a jog. As it often does while trying to drown out the sound of my diaphragm attempting to keep my lungs up with my legs, my mind began to wander. Has Antonio Conte renewed his contract yet? No, he hasn’t — surely that would have been news that I would have heard. Then I thought about how he was on vacation. Probably hasn’t gotten around to it.
By the end of the prior week, Juan Iturbe was reported to all but be a Juventus player. A very good consolation prize to Alexis Sanchez, who was allegedly Conte’s first choice to reinforce the attack and allow for some much needed tactical flexibility, the “New Messi” was also reported to be prominent on Conte’s summer wishlist.
Over the weekend, however, things well… Just seemed to stall. There was news, sure, but it always seemed to be the same thing. Juventus leading the race for Iturbe; Atletico Madrid interested in Iturbe, but their offer is lower than Juve’s; Juventus not worried about losing Iturbe; Juventus still in the lead for Iturbe; Juventus expects to close the deal for Iturbe within the coming days; Agreement with Iturbe already reached; etc. The cynic in me became nervous. I had seen this movie before; every summer the past three years.
The weekend and went, and the young Argentine playmaker returned from South America to Italy in order to finalize his future. Interestingly, he flew not to Milan, a city which houses the closest airport to Turin as well as hotels where players’ agents routinely deal with the Milan teams and Juventus this time of year. He instead flew to Rome. My ears immediately perked.
Hours later, Conte resigned.
Out. Of. Nowhere.
Immediately the speculation was that the board had begun reneging on deals it had made the coach back in May when he agreed to honor at least the final year of his contract. The obvious rumor was that, in light of the constant links by British media, Arturo Vidal was on his way to Manchester United. I couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps they had already reneged on something, although not necessarily a sale.
Hours after that, Roma somehow signed Iturbe.
Then it made sense.
It’s starting to make sense. I found it curious yesterday that Iturbe flew into Rome instead of Milan.
— John (@cascarano) July 16, 2014
Wouldn’t shock me if we missed out on Iturbe & that was the last straw for Conte. — John (@cascarano) July 16, 2014
* * *
Although he achieved early success which was unthinkable just months prior, Antonio Conte was not a perfect coach. He was reluctant to rotate his squad, arguably costing a trip to a European final in Turin. He had a penchant for choosing consistent mediocrity [Padoin] over raw but potential greatness. His unwillingness to look to the youth team for even a temporary solution always perplexed me – although in fairness this could be attributed to a lack of quality identification by the scouting team.
His defeatism when it came to European competition bordered on insulting – surely it’s one thing to be realistic, to use the bully-pulpit in order to pressure the decision-makers to heed your wishes, but eventually this borders on insulting to the players. Perhaps it’s not surprising that European record left something to be desired but, just as this team and club have been in the wake of calciopoli, he was still learning. Which is a key point to all of this. Juventus and Conte were in this together, with a long, sometimes tortured history, and near-symbiotic relationship. Importantly, they equally owed each other.
At this moment, nobody really knows what made Conte abruptly leave on the team two days into pre-season ritiro. All that is being reported is speculation. Yet, it is educated speculation. In my line of work, I am literally trained to follow logic and connect dots. Usually the answer is found along the way. Which is why at this point, I am inclined to believe the account published by La Repubblica, which indicated that late Sunday evening, word trickled back to Conte that Roma had reached a deal for Iturbe. Angered, he contacted his attorney to set up a meeting with Giuseppe Marotta, et al. at Juventus.
This explains why, by Tuesday morning, Iturbe was en route to Rome rather than Milan. By that point, Conte was meeting with the Juve brass handing in his resignation. Later that same evening, Iturbe to Roma was announced. My suspicions are confirmed entirely by this version of events, and with no great pride.
Who is to blame for all of this? Well, this is where the ping pong paddles are picked up, and the back-and-forth begins.
PING!
Conte was right to feel frustrated. This has all happened before. Juventus has spent considerable amounts of money since his arrival. Much of it was necessary, as a new foundation needed to be laid in the wake of the post-Calciopoli plummet, and the subsequent offloading of expensive declining stars of yesterday. Much of it was wasted. The specifics have been covered by me ad nauseum, and deserve no repetition here. However, very briefly, 2011 was spent chasing Sergio Aguero, then Giuseppe Rossi, before settling on Mirko Vucinic.
Two summers ago hopes for Robin Van Persie melt into Fernando Llorente, and finally end with a puddle of Niklas Bendtner – all while spending precious resources on the likes of Kwadwo Asamoah and Mauricio Isla who, while excellent in their own right, were arguably not the most essential need for a team hoping to build on an undefeated domestic season and parlay it into a strong European showing. In 2013, the early targets of Gonzalo Higuain and Stevan Jovetic, both ready to enter into their prime years, were similarly flummoxed.
Manchester City castaway Carlos Tevez (then 29) and Atletico Bilbao’s frozen out Llorente (28) were procured for peanuts, softening that summer’s blow considerably. However hindsight suggests that even though they were the best of the alternatives scooped up by Marotta and co. to date, they were, at the end of the day, Plan B.
PONG!
Yet, Conte understood this surely. An intelligent man whose acumen undoubtedly reaches beyond sport, he surely understands the economic conditions facing Juventus, compounded by the overall fragile state of the Italian economy. While as recent as 2006 Juventus’ revenues and value could only be surpassed by the Spanish big two, Calciopoli ended that.
Combined with the mismanagement in the years after the scandal and advent of Financial Fair Play beginning in 2011, the days of splashing €32 million on Emerson or €25m on Felipe Melo were placed on immediate hold starting in 2010. And rightfully so, for that time at least. While Juventus apparently made certain guarantees on transfer strategy to assuage Conte in May, they surely must have been made in the context of all of this.
Publicly, Marotta and Andrea Agnelli remained steadfast in their commitment to a long-term, self-sustaining project. Besides, much higher revenue projections beginning in 2015 with the beginning of new sponsorship and television deals surely means the near future will be brighter.
PING!
But could Conte really trust that his wishes would be fulfilled, even in better financial days? While Marotta has many talents, and his ability to find diamonds among discarded sacks of coal for next to nothing has immense value, he has never demonstrated he could close a big deal. Period. Surely the Iturbe example proves this once more.
PONG!
But does one need to be a Real Madrid, willing to go into massive debt in order to fund transfers, or a Paris Saint Germain, backed by huge oil money and out of compliance with FFP, in order to compete? Can’t Conte look to Diego Simeone’s example at Atletico Madrid for proof? A similar coach, with a similar motivational and tactical approach to the game, who was also a club hero since his playing days, at a team with even less money, Simeone just took his team to the Champions League finals.
Juventus can surely follow this model with some success for the next few years, as the stadium debt begins to be paid off and revenues increase, before beginning to close the financial gap with the big clubs — much like Bundesliga teams have already figured out and begun doing.
The back-and-forth can probably go on forever.
* * *
Who is really to blame for all of this? Everyone. Conte and Agnelli equally.
I know that right now, at this moment, I am overreacting. And I know this is a fleeting overreaction when I say this – for the first time since Calciopoli, I am less excited for a new season to begin than ever before.
Just days ago, I believed that Juventus had one of the smartest, most ambitious projects in Europe. A project which was well underway with only time needed to fully execute. I don’t have much reason to believe that is no longer the case, other than Conte’s abrupt departure. That he left doesn’t necessarily mean that he no longer believes it, logically. However emotionally, I cannot say that I have the same level of confidence I once did.
Still, if Conte felt frustrated and lost confidence, he should have given his resignation in May or June. That or honor the remainder of his contract and move on once it’s done — as I had feared might happen upon realizing he had never extended his contract in the wake of the May guarantees.
Most Juventini are quick to come to Conte’s immediate and unconditional aide in all of this. I can’t knock this reaction at all, although I find it equally as simplistic as the minority who are willing to turn on him. But one thing nearly all Juventi agree on is the use of Alessandro Del Piero as a benchmark for all others.
Juxtaposing these two examples, Alex was a true bandiere. In 2012 he would have signed a blank contract for free to remain bianconero to this day. In 2006 he stuck with Juventus during Calciopoli, even after Fabio Capello was willing to cast him aside. When he agreed to go to Serie B after having just won the World Cup, Del Piero famously said Un cavaliere non lascia mai la sua Signora.
Mai, Antonio. Mai.
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By John Cascarano. Follow John on Twitter: @cascarano
