What does the future hold for Juventus and Antonio Conte?

Date: 16th July 2014 at 1:42pm
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antonio conte JuventusWith the shock announcement of Antonio Conte’s resignation from Juventus, both the coach and The Old Lady face an uncertain future.

After securing a third consecutive scudetto, Juventus look set to again dominate Serie A next season.  Initially, Conte’s return was uncertain but he reached an agreement with the club over transfer policies

However, speaking Tuesday to the Juventus TV Channel, the former Juventus player announced his resignation despite being under contract for the upcoming season.

“I need to announce the decision to mutually terminate my contract with Juventus, which tied us together for this season,” Conte said.

“There was a journey towards this decision.”

What that journey was could have been towards the Italian national team position. While the tactician refused to comment on his future, saying that he was deferring thinking about his future until Wednesday, his journey may have been accelerated by current events.

Despite pushing for the club to invest further in game-changing playmakers, Juventus looked to sell theirs.  Paul Pogba and Arturo Vidal, World Cup sensations and linchpins of club, could be signed away from the club this summer.  While there are still a number of stars available in the transfer market (new signings inevitably displace others) the summer is halfway over and there are few rumors of quality to either replace or add to the current squad.

Conte had also long stated his desire to one day coach the Azzurri.  With Cesare Prandelli gone after a disappointing World Cup run, the position is available.  More than that, though, is the kind of position the coaching job is.  Despite high expectations, the Italian disaster in the World Cup has left the team bereft of a plan, just like the Juventus team Conte took over in 2011.

If he is not chosen as the next coach of the Azzurri, or he turns down the position, his options are currently limited.  Of the major Italian clubs, all currently have a coach in place and there are no high-profile openings in the major European leagues.  He could pursue his national team passion in another country, but that would likely be counterproductive to his ambition.  Thus, unless he wanted to return to his small-club roots, he would be forced to wait until the start of the season for a coach to stumble and be fired (Inter is a prime candidate), then come in as a saviour.

As for his former club, the options are more varied but less enticing.  The truth is that replacing Conte is more than simply replacing a coach, but replacing a tactician that helped drive the team to its success.  The switch from a 4-3-3 to a 3-5-2  was the impetus for the club’s run as it (a) covered for a few positional weaknesses and (b) allowed key players to play in positions of strength.

The Old Lady, however, is going through a transition. As Andrea Pirlo plays less often and young stars are beginning to be poached, the new coach will have a team of quality players but will need to determine how to deploy them.  That could be the key to holding off Roma and Napoli.

Who could that man be? Again, time was not fortuitous to Juve.  If Conte had left earlier, Cesare Prandelli could have been signed off his Azzurri stint and the fit could have been perfect. However, with him in Turkey, there are other options that are not quite as perfect.

Fabio Capello could return to Italy after two disappointing World Cup stints. Also on the discarded coaches pile are Roberto Mancini and Massimiliano Allegri, both of whom are available and bring with them Serie A coaching experience. An outside the box hire would be David Moyes, who has never coached outside of England and was a failure during his year with Manchester United.

Conversely, Juve could do what they did during their last coaching search and hire a tactician from a smaller club.  Sinisa Mihajlovic of Sampdoria has already been mentioned as a possibility.

Regardless, the timing of this departure could not be worse for both Conte and Juventus.  Both have multiple directions to go, but few apparent and sure.

 

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