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Five challenges that Maurizio Sarri faces at Juventus

Published at :June 25, 2019 at 2:37 PM
Modified at :June 25, 2019 at 2:37 PM
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The ultimate aim of the Italian will be to deliver their UEFA Champions League title to the Bianconeri since 1996.

Maurizio Sarri was appointed as the manager on a three-year deal at Juventus on June 16, 2019. The 60-year-old replaced Massimiliano Allegri, who spent five years at the club, winning the Serie A title on each occasion.

However, not being able to guide the Italian giants to a European trophy was a killer blow for the former gaffer.

Now, Sarri has come in after spending one year at Chelsea and helping them to a third-place finish in the Premier League and most importantly, the UEFA Europa League title.

The tactician has buckets of Serie A experience after having spent previous spells at Napoli and Empoli.

Although, Juventus is surely going to be the toughest challenge the gaffer has yet faced in his managerial career. The challenges and requirements are herculean with no room for error. Here are the five challenges that Maurizio Sarri will face at Juventus.

5. Revamp the midfield and the backline

Juventus are a decent attacking unit, but the rest of the fronts needs a fresh perspective. The midfield and defensive units looked extremely vulnerable, especially near the business end of the season. The midfield options lack creativity apart from Miralem Pjanic. Players like Emre Can and Blaise Matuidi have proved ineffective on many occasions.

Sarri would have an option in Aaron Ramsey to reshape the center of the field and with Adrien Rabiot also joining the club, an uplift in the midfield area should be on the cards. The Italian gaffer could also bring in Jorginho from Chelsea.

At the back, the pairing of stoppers, Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci has looked shaky. Moreover, after losing Mehdi Benatia, the only decent backup left is Daniel Rugani.

It will be a challenge for Sarri to find a better option, and Matthijs De Ligt could be the perfect solution who has been linked to the club. 

 

 

4. Avoiding over-dependence on Cristiano Ronaldo

Despite having exceptional attacking talents like Paulo Dybala and Douglas Costa, Juventus was heavily reliant on their star man, Cristiano Ronaldo.

Mario Mandzukic was the other option in the striker’s role, but was used rarely and became the third choice at a point behind Moise Kean. 

One of the biggest tasks for Maurizio Sarri would be to find an alternative source for goals. In a scenario where Ronaldo is injured, Juventus are short on decent options. While Higuain is still contracted to Juventus, his spell at Chelsea did not impress Sarri.

Reports suggest that the club is looking towards replacing the striker with Mauro Icardi, who is out-of-favour at Inter Milan.

 

3. Replace an ageing squad with young players

It has been a known issue that Juventus’ squad is becoming older day by day. Ageing individuals such as Chiellini, Bonucci, Khedira, Matuidi and Cuadrado among others are in their 30s and have lost that extra pace and need to be offloaded.

Players like Moise Kean, Rugani and Rodrigo Bentancur are few of the young players in the team, but are not good enough for the starting lineup.

It is high time that the club started building the team with an eye towards the future. The need to sign Matthijs De Ligt, while Adrien Rabiot has already joined, is proving to be more significant in order to bring in young energy in the starting lineup. It would be a daunting task for Sarri to find a way to incorporate the younger players into the starting lineup.

2. Resolving the Paulo Dybala situation

The downside of signing Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid has been the sidelining of Paulo Dybala. The Argentine has been pushed to the right-wing where he has really struggled to make a mark. His most effective position is either leading the front line or playing just behind the striker as a second striker. Allegri’s 4-3-3 formation rendered Dybala ineffective and him playing out-of-position was just a recipe for disaster.

Maurizio Sarri employed a similar shape at Chelsea as well, which may spell further time at the right-wing for Dybala.

Will Paulo Dybala stay at Juventus for another season?

The stats present a clearer picture as to how the attacker has been overshadowed since Ronaldo’s arrival.

In the 2017-18 season, Dybala scored 26 goals in all competitions, while in the 2018-19 season, he could only manage 10 goals.

Perhaps, it’s in the best interest of both the player and the manager to go their separate ways. It was reported that Manchester United were interested in signing the 25-year-old forward for a fee in the region of £90 million. 

1. Securing a European trophy, preferably the Champions League

Juventus is one of those clubs which has been dominating its domestic league for years now, something similar to what Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich are achieving in their respective countries. For any manager of the Old Lady, securing European success comes as a prerequisite demand - ahead of the league triumph.

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Massimiliano Allegri spent five years at the club and won five Serie A titles, but could not guide the team to a European trophy, which ultimately proved to be the deciding factor in the conclusion of his stay at the club.

It is a well-known fact that the biggest challenge Maurizio Sarri would face at the helm of the club would be to finally win the UEFA Champions League. The last time Juventus lifted the Champions League trophy was back in 1995-96. The new gaffer will be judged on the performances of the team on the continental front and that is where Sarri must deliver.

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