On Sunday, nothing less than a landmark Serie A clash between Claudio Ranieri’s red-hot Roma and Juventus. The Champions League is at stake. Right in the middle of it: the new and old Turin Igor Tudor.
A man with the team’s DNA, then. After the failed plan with promising Thiago Motta, who, according to Gazzetta dello Sport, was also confronted with unpleasant words from Juventus sporting director Cristiano Guintoli when he was released (“I’m ashamed I chose you”), the Turin bosses decided on a familiar face on the bench. For Igor Tudor.
The 46-year-old Croatian, who, at 1.93 meters, has a commanding presence, made his debut (1-0 against Genoa) in a fine black suit, miming the general. Even during the warm-up program for his starting lineup, which included Dusan Vlahovic, who had been almost completely left out under Thiago Motta (with winter signing Randal Kolo Muani completely on the bench), one thing was noticeable.
Tudor was directly involved in the sessions, standing close to his protégés and acting as a motivator. He did the same throughout the entire Serie A home game. The 55-time Croatian international, who played for many years as a defender for the Old Lady (three championships, one of which was later revoked), was always actively on the sidelines. He never sat on the substitutes’ bench, however; there was no need for a chair.
“The energy that Juventus need now”
All of this in connection with the 1-0 winning goal by Kenan Yildiz, who was also brought back into the starting lineup, which the Croatian Footballer of the Year 2001 himself had initiated with a quick reaction (pass to Teun Koopmeiners, throw-in and forwarded via Vlahovic to Yildiz), also earned the new Juve coach direct praise. For example, the Gazzetta dello Sport praised Tudor’s move away from the 4-2-3-1 and towards the 3-4-2-1. Meanwhile, the Corriere dello Sport recognized a new spirit in the Bianconeri team and praised the return of attacking talent Yildiz.
But weaknesses were also identified, especially after the bitter injury of defensive leader Federico Gatti. And that the task of CFC Genoa can certainly not be seen as an indicator of the team’s chances of reaching the Champions League. Other tasks would first show the potential and exact abilities of the coach, who was already assistant coach in Turin under then-boss Andrea Pirlo in 2020/21. But the start has been successful for the former coach of Lazio, Marseille and Galatasaray.
Tudor himself recognized this in the aftermath in a conversation with DAZN: “We only had two or three training sessions together. But the enthusiasm has increased immediately.” Tactically and psychologically, there is not much that can be done in such a short time anyway. However, his team quickly ‘got used to a different style, because I want to play more vertically and with a different intensity’.
And Turin’s goalkeeping legend Gianluigi Buffon, now the Squadra Azzurra’s sporting director, also immediately recognized ‘the energy that Juventus needs now’.
Asked about his nimble hands in Yildiz’s 1-0 winning goal, Tudor, who was euphorically welcomed by his own fans (“I heard the chants, it was emotional”), just smiled and said, “It just happened. It wasn’t something we trained for specifically.”
What needs to be trained, however, are set-pieces. Because offensively, the record champions, who are currently only ranked fifth in Serie A with 55 points, have only managed four goals according to Tuttomercatoweb, while defensively, despite capable aerial players, something always goes wrong.
And: the first big task for Juventus is just around the corner. This Sunday evening, the Old Lady will be a guest at Roma, who are only three points behind, but have improved massively after a horror start with two replaced coaches and “grandpa” Claudio Ranieri.
Care for some numbers? Seven consecutive Serie A wins, the latest of which was a 1-0 victory in Lecce. All of this with just one (!) goal conceded in the 2-1 win against Como. Furthermore, the Giallorossi, under the 73-year-old coach who has recently been praised by Mats Hummels, have not lost in 14 league games – not since Como beat them 2-0 in mid-December. The only downer in this phase: the injury and subsequent surgery on figurehead Paulo Dybala, who will miss the clash with his former club Juventus and much more.
