Juventus have made the right decision firing Maurizio Sarri

Juventus have parted ways with Maurizio Sarri after just one season, and they made the right decision.

What Maurizio Sarri did in Serie A this season at Juventus was no accomplishment. Yes, Juve won the Scudetto, but carrying on a tradition of nine straight Scudetti in a league with no other elite club is hardly any sort of accomplishment. If Niko Kovac could get fired for winning the double at Bayern Munich but barely scraping by in a weak Bundesliga, then Sarri can surely get the axe for winning Serie A by a point.

Maybe the season was never truly in doubt, but it was only in slight doubt and close in the end because of Sarri’s managing.

The Old Lady went from never allowing more than 30 goals in a season in their first eight Scudetto-winning seasons to allowing 43 in 2019-2020. Basically, Sarri played a role in ruining the club’s defensive record, despite the fact that they signed one of the best young center backs in the world in Matthijs de Ligt and had Serie A’s best goalkeeper (as in, he won the actual award and had the stats to back it up!) in Wojciech Szczesny.

Sarri is clueless. Anyone who has watched Chelsea blossom during Frank Lampard’s tenure understands that #SarriBall is unimaginative. I still don’t quite know what it entails, but from what I’ve seen since Serie A’s return, it must have the stated goal of making the most aimless sideways passes. In short, it might as well be called #JermaineJenasBall.

Maurizio Sarri has not helped Juventus’ players improve

For the life of me, I cannot understand how a manager with Cristiano Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala can get so little out of his team. Because besides those two, we cannot say that Sarri improved any single player on Juventus. So if the defense is tanking and the attack is being held afloat by literally the two best players in Serie A, what is exactly is Sarri bringing to the table?

Keeping a manager for the sake of “continuity” or barely winning a league that is usually won is hardly the right solution. Bayern Munich have become legitimately one of the best teams in Europe again and are among the favorites to win the Champions League, and literally the only major difference is that they hired Hansi Flick.

Juventus are a Champions League-or-bust team at this point with Ronaldo. They bought him for that stated goal, and they failed miserably in the Round of 16. Lyon were supposed to be an easy win, but Juve were lucky to have even been tied on goals. Only Ronaldo showed up to play, and that is a damning statement.

Because Ronaldo can leave. If he is unsatisfied with what Juventus have on the team or the way they are playing, he will get the hell out of Turin and that will be a sign to future superstars that Juve are not a team on the level of Real Madrid or Barcelona.

The Bianconeri want to reach that level in Champions League football. And clearly, Sarri wasn’t going to get them there. He’s a good coach if you want to make the Europa League and be competitive there, but he’s like Niko Kovac or Unai Emery. Right now, he just doesn’t have what it takes to be at a top club and in the Champions League knockout stages. He’s the Federico Bernardeschi of managers.