The Juventus hierarchy must put egos aside and embrace transition phase

“I hear people talking about the end of an era,” said Juventus’ Chief Football Officer Fabio Paratici, adding “the word doesn’t exist at Juventus,” concerning transition phases.

While Paratici’s comments could be interpreted as the necessary self-belief and confidence for a European supergiant, such words may, in fact, prove detrimental. It’s an extremely fine line between self-confidence and outright egotism.

Thus, it’s about time Paratici & Co. thrust their egos aside and, instead, embrace what’s undeniably a period of transition in Turin following a decade of domestic domination in Serie A.

Juve’s monopoly over Calcio throughout the 2010s was defined by the grinta – determination/resolve – instilled by Antonio Conte and perpetuated by Massimiliano Allegri, but it’s an attitude and style the Juve hierarchy have attempted to drift away from. Such attempts have been manifested through an identity shift via an altered transfer policy and quirky, if you will, managerial appointments.

Andrea Pirlo (inadvertently) led Juventus down the wrong path on the transfer market…when he was still a player

The pragmatism of Conte and Allegri has since been replaced by the ideologies of Maurizio Sarri and the youthfulness of Andrea Pirlo.

Regarding the club’s transfer policy, it was, ironically, Pirlo who set the precedent for the previous trend after he was left out to rot on the streets of Milan with the Rossoneri convinced that he was finished at the highest level.

Oops.

Pirlo’s success during a superb four-year spell convinced the Juve board that this whole ‘free transfer’ thingy was actually pretty damn good. Thus, a 28-year-old Sami Khedira arrived from Real Madrid in 2015, along with a 33-year-old Dani Alves the following year. Later examples including Aaron Ramsey, Adrien Rabiot, and Emre Can further depict their free-agent fetish.

It was, perhaps, Juve’s exit at the hands of Erik ten Hag’s babyfaces in the Champions League quarter-finals two years ago which forced the club into a rethink. The stellar Ajax side that thwarted the Bianconeri boasted an average age eight years younger than Allegri’s, quite literally, Old Lady.

Juventus do have a highly talented group of young players

Since then, the likes of Matthijs de Ligt – the defensive stalwart in the aforementioned Ajax side, Federico Chiesa, Dejan Kulusevski, Weston McKennie, and Merih Demiral have arrived to form an exciting young core to complement the peaking stars.

Nevertheless, it’s Juve’s on-field displays that best highlight a current period of transition. While the Bianconeri could yet collect two pieces of silverware in Pirlo’s debut campaign at the helm, they’ve also been knocked out of Europe to inferior opposition for the third season running and are destined to see their monopoly over Italian football dissipate by Conte’s Inter by May.

That’s what transitions are all about; pain, struggle, mistakes, rebuild. Juve have got to accept, not avoid.

In recent years, we’ve seen Liverpool evolve from mediocrity into the best club outfit the planet has to offer in one cycle under Jurgen Klopp, while Barcelona have accepted and embraced their need to rebuild following Josep Maria Bartomeu’s tumultuous reign as president and now look to be on the right track with the greatest to ever do it complemented by a crop of talented youngsters as Joan Laporta enjoys his second presidential stint.

While Liverpool’s situation in 2015 is pretty incomparable to Juve in 2021, there are distinct similarities between La Blaugrana and the Bianconeri – squad profiles being one, the presence of an all-time great being another.

Juventus must embrace the process of laying a foundation

Overall, the overriding point is that Juventus shouldn’t hide from their transition phase and instead embrace it. Paratici’s comments, however, combined with the likelihood of Cristiano Ronaldo’s return for 2021/22 depicts that they’re doing exactly that: hiding. It’s egotism, pride, avoidance, and it’ll come back to bite them in the coming years.

The term ‘transition’ in this context seems to exude negative connotations in the minds of the Juve hierarchy as if it’s an acceptance of mediocrity. It’s not, but the Bianconeri’s unprecedented Serie A success has seemingly deluded the hierarchy into believing that they’re immune from the cyclical nature of the sport. In Juve’s case; the current phase should be viewed as the foundation-layer for returning to the apex of European football.

As it stands, Juve are a fair distance off the continental summit, and by continuing on this path of denial, aggrandisement, and borderline delusion, the Juve board are simply doing more harm than good.

For those pulling the strings on the black and white side of Turin, a necessary reminder: Ego is the enemy (thanks, Ryan Holiday).