Luciano Spalletti arrived at Juventus with a strong reputation as one of Italy’s managers who favour attacking football and controlling matches. His Napoli side, which won the Serie A title in 2023, was among the most attack-minded champions the league had seen in years.
Juventus worked hard to bring him to the club, but despite having him in charge for a year, there are questions about whether the team has made meaningful progress. Their current performances have been disappointing, even after Spalletti enjoyed a full pre-season with the players and received backing through several new signings.
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This has raised questions about whether the club recruited the players he actually wanted. While the manager is responsible for improving the team, the quality and suitability of the squad remain important factors in his ability to implement his ideas.
Riccardo Trevisani has followed Juventus closely in recent months and believes the club have failed to give Spalletti the attacking options he needs. He argues that the team’s struggles in front of goal are difficult to reconcile with the manager’s established approach to football.
According to Calciomercato, Trevisani pointed to Juventus’ attacking statistics and questioned whether the club had provided the coach with the right players to make his ideas work.
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“In what life has Spalletti had the 13th attack in Serie A when he was coaching a team? Never. We can say anything about Spalletti, everything, except that he is a defensive coach.
“Frankly, seeing this Juve with these attacking numbers makes me think that in these two years, between Openda, David, Kolo Muani, and Woltemade, they haven’t really put him in the best conditions to play football.”
(Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images)
Spalletti must still find a way to improve the team with the players available to him. However, if Juventus want to see the kind of attacking football associated with his Napoli side, they may need to reassess whether the current squad has the right characteristics to deliver it.
The debate over recruitment is likely to continue as the Bianconeri look for a way to turn their disappointing performances around.
