Luciano Spalletti will live to fight another day, as Juventus won’t pull the trigger as quickly as last season. Their new brass prefers stability and hasn’t completely lost faith in the gaffer. However, contingency plans are being prepared should the situation unravel, La Repubblica reports.
Igor Tudor was axed quickly last season because there was a ready-made top-notch replacement. While the fans are clamoring for the return of Antonio Conte, the officials have made no move in that direction and appear to have other ideas in case of a coaching change. The veteran has taken over a team mid-season just once in recent years, Tottenham.
Spalletti will have a few more matches to try to right the ship and mend the Juventus locker room. Francisco Conceiçao will miss about a month due to a shoulder sprain. The gaffer will seize the opportunity to use either a three-man defense or a two-man attack more often.
If the Bianconeri don’t improve, the brass will likely turn to a caretaker manager, for instance, Stefano Pioli, and try to hire a touted manager next summer rather than pursuing Conte. The former Milan tactician worked with director Frederic Massara at Milan. Their main future targets would be Francesco Farioli, who’s doing well at Porto, and Simone Inzaghi, who could leave Al-Hilal.
Our Take on Juventus and Spalletti
The schedule is too busy to usher in a new boss, even if things have gotten ugly, and it also gets easier, so the manager could stick it out. If they don’t bounce back, it’d be silly not to give Conte at least a call to see if he’s willing to come back before pivoting toward uninspiring solutions.