Sarri’s explanations do not convince after the defeat against Napoli

Maurizio Sarri, Juventus coach, after the defeat against Napoli, commented:

“We played a bland game from a mental point of view and therefore the offensive phase was also affected. It was a game with low mental energy and bland defensively as well. We lost rightly because we played a bad game; it took us a lot of our time”.

• Humility, sweat and sacrifice have always been the hallmarks of Juventus, which from Trapattoni to Lippi to Allegri has always had coaches who have taken this attitude very seriously. The fact that now in this year it often had mental breaks, it seems to me to be a wake-up call, which it goes beyond the objective fact of continuing to lead the championship and which should be taken more into consideration by Sarri.

“When the situation is what we showed tonight, it’s difficult to change a something or a single player. Mentally the team had little energy. In the final I saw that some players weren’t playing well and we tried with Douglas”.

• Showing little energy in matches that are important for the opponent’s skills and to gain an additional advantage over the opponents should be enough to motivate Juventus. The role of the key players should be a determining factor in supporting a proactive approach to the match, but it seems that this has not happened. And perhaps Sarri is more focused on getting the game he likes rather than stimulating a tough and convincing approach on the pitch. I would say that these characteristics come before any form of tactics. In other words, ideas without the heart are worth little.

“It’s not a trend. These are games where you have to comment little with the players. You have to find great motivation, which is not easy for those who have won so much. These games can help us do that. The difficulty is to maintain the right level of mentality for long periods of time”.

• A bit weak answer, for a coach who wants to be a winner, to say that this approach “is not a trend”. The question is that from these professionals should be expected another quality in the conduct of the game. Intensity, speed and precision are three factors that a team that wants to compete with the big team in European football should always show. I advise Sarri, instead, to talk to the players to find out how to get out of these negative moments, which with Napoli have affected the whole match but they have already appeared for less time in many others.
• This approach explains why it is not enough for a coach to be just a good coach but must also be a leader, who teaches the team to compete to win; to enter the field with the willingness to fight to impose his mentality on his opponents.