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Juventus recently announced that head coach Massimiliano Allegri would be departing the club at the end of the season, bringing an end to his five-year stay in the dugout in Turin.
The 51-year-old was appointed in the summer of 2014 to replace Antonio Conte and he went on to guide the Bianconerri to one of the most successful spells in its history, building on the early foundation laid by his predecessor.
The former Milan manager won five consecutive Scudetti in each of his five seasons in charge, including winning the double of Coppa Italia and Serie A in the first four seasons consecutively as he also guided the club to the final of the Champions League on two occasions.
While Allegri achieved total domestic superiority, it was his constant failings on the continent which led to his departure, with Juventus’ elimination at the hands of Ajax in the quarterfinal of this season’s Champions League being the straw that broke the Camel’s back.
The addition of Cristiano Ronaldo to the club was supposed to be the catalyst to end the club’s painful wait for European glory, and a failure to triumph on the continent means that Allegri might find himself out of a job next season.
Juventus are by far the biggest club in Italy and one of the biggest in the world and as such, there would be no shortage of interest in filling the vacant role. In this piece, we shall be taking a look at five managers who are potential replacements for Max Allegri at Juventus.
#5 Antonio Conte
The 49-year-old is no stranger to Juventus, having coached the club for three years between 2011 and 2014, while also representing and captaining the side during his playing days.
Antonio Conte inherited a side which was still reeling from the Calciolpoli scandal and was nowhere near being the dominant team in Italy, as it was significantly some way off the Milan teams.
However, the former Chelsea manager totally transformed the club, signing players like Paul Pogba, Andrea Pirlo, Arturo Vidal among others and making them the cornerstones of his team, in addition, to already established players at the club like Buffon, Chiellini and Marchisio.
Using a unique 3-5-2 system, Antonio Conte totally transformed the fortunes of Juventus, winning the Scudetto in his first season in charge, and laying the foundation for the behemoth they are right now. The Italian left the club in 2014, having guided the team to three consecutive Serie A titles, including winning the 2011-12 title unbeaten (making the club the first team to do so since Serie A was expanded to 20 teams) and the 2013-14 edition with a record 102 points.
Upon departing Juventus, he found further success with the Italian national team as well as Chelsea in the Premier League who he guided to the 2016-17 league title in record-breaking fashion as well as the FA Cup in 2018 before being fired in acrimonious circumstances.
Antonio Conte has been without a job since then, but strong speculations suggest he could be returning to Italy ahead of next season, although Juventus could face stiff competition for his services from Inter Milan who have reportedly agreed terms for him to replace Luciano Spalletti in the dugout.
#4 Mauricio Pochettino
It is little wonder that Mauricio Pochettino has been linked to all vacant managerial jobs at the biggest clubs in the world from Manchester United to Real Madrid, as the Argentine has shown great managerial acumen in taking Tottenham this far on a very little budget.
It is no hidden secret that Spurs became the first side in Premier League history to go not one but two transfer windows without making any addition, but the 47-year-old deserves immense praise for making the most of the squad at his disposal.
Despite not signing any player, Pochettino has guided Tottenham to the top four for the fourth consecutive season, finishing above clubs like Arsenal and Manchester United who spent considerably more, while also making it to the final of the Champions League, eliminating moneybags Manchester City along the way.
Under his guidance, hitherto unknown players like Heung-Min Son, Harry Kane, Eric Dier among others have become world beaters and common rhetoric in football circles is just how good he would be if he is backed with much better players.
There appears to be a chance of fans getting an answer to that question, as the former Southampton manager admitted that he would have a serious discussion with the club hierarchy before deciding on his future in the dugout.
Juventus offers an opportunity for Mauricio Pochettino to coach one of the most successful clubs in history, while the chance of managing one of the greatest players of all time in Cristiano Ronaldo is one which not many can turn down.
#3 Simone Inzaghi
Simone Inzaghi spent over a decade at the Stadio Olimpico playing for Lazio and upon retirement went on to coach the club’s youth team for six years.
He was appointed as the senior team’s manager on a caretaker basis in 2016, before being appointed permanently at the start of the 2016/2017 season.
Since then, he has steadily impressed in the Lazio dugout, guiding the club to fifth place on the Serie A standing in his first full season in charge, as well as making it to the final of the Coppa Italia and winning the 2019 Supercoppa Italia. His team narrowly missed out on Champions League qualification last season after losing 3-2 at home to Inter Milan in a winner-takes-all clash on the final matchday.
This season, he oversaw a 2-0 victory over Atalanta in the final of the Coppa Italia and even though their domestic form has not been too consistent this season (they find themselves in 8th), there can be no taking away from the good work Inzaghi has done with the Biancocelesti.
#2 Maurizio Sarri
Maurizio Sarri won high praise for his work with Napoli when he guided the Pertenopei to a second-place finish in the 2017-18 Serie A race, pushing Juventus all the way before succumbing on the penultimate matchday of the season.
It was on the backdrop of his work at the Estadio San Paolo that he was announced as Antonio Conte’s replacement at Chelsea, but despite starting the season strongly, the 60-year-old lost steam midway through the campaign, facing criticism for his predictable tactics, as well as his wrong deployment of N’golo Kante and distrust of Callum Hudson Odoi.
Things got to a head such that fans turned against Sarri, with chants of ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’ becoming a mainstay at Stamford Bridge every time he was about to make a substitution.
Indeed, Chelsea barely made it into the top four this season, being beneficiaries of late collapses by Manchester United and Arsenal, while harrowing losses to Manchester City and Bournemouth did little to help Sarri’s claim.
Chelsea have a notorious history of rapid firing and hiring of managers and there are already reports emanating that the club is ready to fire Sarri at the end of the season and replace him with Stamford Bridge legend and current Derby manager Frank Lampard which could clear the way for a return to his native Italy.
#1 Jose Mourinho
This might be a rather ludicrous suggestion at first sight for a number of reasons – chief of which is that Jose Mourinho had a two-year highly successful affiliation with Inter Milan who are sworn enemies of Juventus.
Indeed, as recently as November of last year, Jose stoked the embers of this rivalry when he mockingly raised three fingers to Juventus fans at their stadium, mockingly reminding them of his treble win with Inter after inspiring Manchester United to a 1-0 victory in the group stage of the Champions League this season.
Another red flag is that the 51-year-old has struggled massively in each of his last three jobs, being fired after uninspiring results, while his relationship with Juventus star man Cristiano Ronaldo is also not the greatest.
However, Mourinho himself has come out to suggest that he expects to be at a top job this coming season, while reports indicate that Ronaldo himself has asked the club hierarchy to appoint his compatriot.
Despite exaggerated suggestions of his decline, Jose Mourinho remains one of the greatest managers of all time, and Juventus can benefit massively from his proven track record of delivering on the biggest stages.
