It was 2011, Juventus “reached” 8th place in Serie A. second time in a row. Del neri was the coach, Felipe Melo – Aquilani was the starting pair in midfield. Milos Krasic was the “star” of the team.
What happened next?
Juventus decided to hire Antonio Conte as their new coach. Integralist and firm believer that hard work isn’t enough, because you can work harder than that.
In addition, players like Aquilani, F. Melo, Grygera, Paolucci and Tiago left the team. That summer also led player like Lichtsteiner, Vidal, Vucinic, Giaccherini and Andrea Pirlo to join. You could say that was the beginning, because Juventus was able to win their first title over a AC Milan which was actually stronger if you ask me.
Juventus ended that season, unbeaten in Serie A.
In the following two seasons Juventus had a relatively easier task domestically. Winning the first title helped the team sign players like Tevez Giovinco and Pogba, in addition the team got more used to his 3–5–2, with the BBBC being one of the key parts of the team. (i.e Buffon, Bonucci, Barzagli, Chiellini).
Then, after three years Conte left, and Massimiliano Allegri took his place. He did not get a warm welcome honestly, but hell did he not provide results! He led Juventus to an “almost treble” season at his first attempt, losing only to Barcelona in the final of the UCL in Berlin. Allegri had a completely different approach than Conte (one of the reasons the shift worked?), calm, not so fixed on tactics but rather on strategy.
Reaching an UCL final did well to Juve, allowing them to keep most of their best players, or at least keeping them for a bit (Pogba, Vidal). With highs and lows the following Serie A titles were “easy” to achieve, the one before his last aside.
Meanwhile players like Pjanic, Higuain, Morata, and Cuadrado were bought by the club. Which represented a radical change compared to the past. With Allegri, Juventus were able to “compete” for good players not only at domestical prices! Proof is the last superstar who joined, Cristiano Ronaldo. Unpredictable.
To conclude, their ability to keep evolving through different strategies, made Juventus one of the strongest clubs in the world. Keeping a core of players (BBC, Marchisio and so on) while adding new prospects (young Alex Sandro, Dybala, Pogba) paid off.
Conte was a bet who paid off more than anyone could have expected. Then Juventus were smart enough to make a profit out of it.
Allegri was great at making the change less dramatic and to adapt the different players he had to work with through the years, achieving remarkable outcomes in Europe too!
