Luciano Spalletti unsure if Juventus ‘still follow’ him after ugly home loss to Lazio

After his team’s first loss of the 2026-27 season last month, Juventus manager Luciano Spalletti received a fair bit of heat for how the Bianconeri totally lost its balance against Sassuolo. After their second loss of the season, Sunday’s 3-0 defeat at the hand of surprise package Lazio at the Allianz Stadium in Turin, the heat has seemingly been turned up to a degree in which Spalletti hasn’t seen since the final weeks of the 2025-26 campaign when Champions League qualification was slipping away.

And it sounds like, in some ways, Spalletti could see a little bit of the writing on the wall.

Amongst the many critiques that Spalletti — who was suspended for Sunday’s loss as a result of his red card last weekend against Cagliari — had of his team’s performance during his post-game media responsibilities, It was an answer to his current relationship with the team that raised plenty of eyebrows. Spalletti responded to the question “Until yesterday, I thought I could say yes, then today I probably don’t know …” — something that will surely fuel speculation about just how much longer he might have on the Juventus sideline if his team continues to play the way they did against Lazio on Sunday night.

The quote, via multiple outlets, in English is as follows:

“If instead of improving we get worse, I have to do in-depth analysis, especially on myself. Does the team still follow me? Until yesterday, I thought I could say yes, then today I probably don’t know. I have a good relationship with them, I always want to share, that’s how I am.”

That is … yeah, it’s a doozy. But it also isn’t the only thing that Spalletti said that after the Lazio loss that made you pay attention a little bit more than usual simply because of both how critical and direct they were.

Amongst the things that Spalletti said afterward was:

• “We were out of ideas.”
• “It was certainly an inferior Juventus (to Lazio), a team that did not control the game, nor have ideas on where to take the game.”
• “We were fragile in duels and in our reactions. I didn’t like many of (the players’) attitudes.”
• “We were slow both in legs and mind.”
• “If you are too slow to react, show no heart or rhythm, tactics and systems become irrelevant.”
• “Without tempo, without ideas, without running, without the desire to work hard, and when there is fragility in duels, letting heads drop when things aren’t working, those are all things I did not like.”
• “We were fragile.”

Again, that all is a doozy. And then, to top it all off, Spalletti responded to something that Juventus stand-in captain Gleison Bremer said about the team’s performance and subsequent reaction to criticism from the home crowd at the Allianz. Bremer’s quote in full is here:

“It is true, the coach gives indications, but we are the ones who need to put it into action on the field. However, there are 11 players on the field, plus the five who come off the bench, so I cannot just carry everyone. I try to give a hand, I talk to them, but they all have their own character. We can push them to a certain point, but that’s all, some have more character than others.

“If they hear jeers, they hide and feel scared. I know we have many new and young players, so if you compare it to the Juve of a few years ago, it is a different situation.

“That doesn’t mean I am pointing fingers at lads, but everyone is different. When things go badly, some react with determination, others hide away. That’s just their personality.”

(Source: Football Italia)

Spalletti was still on the air with Sky Italia as Bremer said those words, so he was understandably asked about it. That response went a little bit like this:

He has to answer and it’s good that he does some analysis. But he is involved in tonight’s match just like I was. We need to talk about ourselves before the team, not just individually. It would be easy to blame other things. I have to ask myself questions and get answers.

(Source: Gianluca Di Marzio)

None of this is good, and it is definitely look like Spalletti is feeling the heat that comes with this kind of performance. Which is valid because, no matter the current state of Juventus, you deserve the criticism that will come your way after you lose in that kind of way — especially when it’s at home in Turin.