Juventus manager Andrea Pirlo has come under fire throughout his first season as manager, but the pressure reached new heights after a 3-0 loss to Milan at the Allianz Stadium. Since then, the Bianconeri have responded well, with wins over Sassuolo and rivals Inter Milan in Serie A, as well as a beautiful Coppa Italia triumph over Atalanta.
Pirlo’s job is not 100 percent safe, since Juve are still on the Champions League bubble and need to win this weekend against Bologna to have a chance of staying in the marquee competition for next season. Otherwise, Juve could lose Cristiano Ronaldo, miss out on necessary transfer upgrades, and force Pirlo to suffer the consequences.
But the thing is, Pirlo is better than some of the options we’ve seen linked to Juventus. Bologna’s manager Sinisa Mihajlovic is one of the names linked to the Bianconeri. But should the Old Lady really replace Pirlo with Mihajlovic? We know who Mihajlovic is, and he doesn’t seem to be the kind of manager who can take on the responsibilities at Juve. Pirlo, on the other hand, has potential and showed he is capable of competing with anyone in Serie A this season.
How about the other names? Gian Piero Gasperini is excellent, but there’s no way he fits Juventus. Look at what he did to Atalanta legend Papu Gomez this winter. Can Gasperini really work with the superstar players in Turin?
Andrea Pirlo can grow at Juventus and has more upside than many managers linked to the Bianconeri
Gennaro Gattuso has done a fine job with Napoli, and it will be their mistake if they truly fire him. But can anyone say he’s an upgrade on Pirlo? Does he fit the Juve identity? Is Simone Inzaghi of Lazio truly better than Pirlo?
Juventus have a manager who has grown this season and can keep growing after this season in Pirlo. He has his flaws, yes, but this squad has even bigger flaws than Pirlo. Much bigger, when we look at how inept so many of the team’s midfielders have been this season.
There are really only two managers who are among the best of the best and can be definitive upgrades on Pirlo. Those managers are known commodities to Juventini: former coach Max Allegri and former player Zinedine Zidane.
Allegri and Zidane are seasoned managers at the highest level who have competed in multiple Champions League Finals and have won multiple league titles. The other managers linked to Juventus cannot even stand anywhere near their level.
Juve cannot settle for less. It is Allegri, Zidane, or bust. Because if they cannot land a big fish, they might as well keep their commitment to Pirlo and find the players he wants so that he can play his style of football instead of being burdened by a few injury-prone, aging, and, quite frankly, overrated players who are holding back the rest of the squad.
If it isn’t Zidane or Allegri, Juventini shouldn’t want another coaching change and a potential step back into further mediocrity. Because that’s what some of these managers represent. They are either huge risks because of a potential culture clash (Gattuso, Gasperini) or they have not shown they are capable of managing a club like Juve.