What's next for perfectionist Conte and Juventus?
Posted by James Horncastle
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Antonio Conte has performed far above expectations since taking over as Juve manager. So why, then, does his future there seem so uncertain?
Juventus' players picked Antonio Conte up, put him on their shoulders and launched their coach into the air over and over again in celebration. Being
the character he is, the 44-year-old soon came back down to earth. He insists on keeping his feet -- and everyone else's -- firmly on ground. Conte
isn't one to allow himself to get carried away, nor does he dwell too long and take time to enjoy his success. He looks forward, not back. He gets
ready to go again. No sooner has the confetti settled on another championship-winning season than it's on to the next one.
Which brings us to the following question: What really is next for him? Conte appeared to ask himself this after Monday night's 1-0 win against
Atalanta. It was Juve's 31st in the league this campaign and their 18th in a row at home, where they have been perfect all season. Both are Serie A
records. More could yet be broken. With two games of the campaign still to play, Juventus can not only exceed the 97 points that Inter accumulated
in 2006-07 but they could become the first team ever to break the 100-point barrier in Italy's top flight.
Reaching for an adjective to describe the past nine months, Conte went with "historic." Juventus haven't won three Scudetti in a row since 1933.
"What this team has done in Italy cannot be improved upon," argued Conte. He said the same a year ago when Juventus finished with more points,
scored more goals and conceded fewer than they did in his first season, when they became only the third team in Serie A history to go undefeated
in the league. This time, however, it's hard not to believe Conte. For it really is tough to see how Juventus can possibly post better numbers.
Is he saying: "I've taken this team as far as it can go?" Perhaps. Though not necessarily. Maybe it's more a case of managing expectation. Conte
knows that, for many, only victory in Europe will constitute success from now on. He was upset with the criticism that followed Juve's exit from the
group stages of the Champions League and the semifinals of the Europa League. Yet from his perspective, the club is ahead of schedule.
Recall the state Juventus were in when he was appointed. They were coming off back-to-back seventh-place finishes. The objective he was given by
the club in Year 1 was to get Juventus back into the Champions League, in Year 2 it was to challenge for the Scudetto and in Year 3, it was to win
it. A hat trick of titles was above and beyond his brief. Why, then, he should be criticised so heavily for disappointing in Europe beats Conte. A
quarterfinal and elimination at the hands of the eventual winners in his first year. A semifinal (albeit in another continental competition) the next.
For him, that represents progress.
Juventus have won three straight Scudettos yet failed to make a dent in Europe. Given the difficulty of the Champions League, that's no great
shame.
Above all, people need to be realistic. Winning the Champions League is not straightforward. Conte has pointed this out. But some of his
mitigations don't hold up to scrutiny, for instance, Juve's inability to compete financially with the other elite clubs in Europe. "If you sit in a
restaurant where the prices are 100 euros [a head], you can't think about eating with only 10 euros," Conte said.
And yet if this logic applied, then the teams that spent the most money -- Real Madrid, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain -- would be the
only ones to win the Champions League. Instead, clubs with smaller turnover and lower wage bills than Juventus -- like Borussia Dortmund last year
and Atletico Madrid this season -- have still managed to reach the final. It also hasn't escaped the attention that Atleti have one former Juve flop in
their first team [Tiago] and another on the bench as one of their first go-to substitutes [Diego Ribas].
In Conte's defence, while those examples show nothing is impossible, they are still Cinderella stories. Juventus should have done better than go
out of the group stages this season. Their performance did not reflect the team's true worth, but nor should they be expected or feel entitled to win
the Champions League. This is all Conte is saying.
Juventus have reached seven finals in the competition's 59-year history. They have won it "only" twice. That the Old Lady hasn't triumphed more in
Europe is perhaps in part down to sometimes not being on good terms with Lady Luck -- a suggestion that many will inevitably laugh at given their
reputation as Gobbi or hunchbacks, a figure of fortune in Italian folklore. But it may also have something to do with their mentality.
Juventus have nearly always prioritised the league. It's one of the reasons why even with two titles revoked after Calciopoli, they still have far more
Scudetti than Milan and Inter (30 to 18 each). Just think of Carlo Ancelotti. He was thought of as a failure at Juventus. "A pig can’t coach," read the
banner at the old Delle Alpi. How had they arrived at that conclusion? Because he couldn't deliver the Serie A title. In fact, over the course of an 18-
year career of working at the highest level, he has won the league only three times -- Milan in 2004, Chelsea in 2010 and Paris Saint-Germain in 2013.
And yet to many (and justifiably so) he is a success, one of the managerial greats because he has won the Champions League twice and will
compete in his fourth final as a coach this season. Those continental achievements eclipse domestic disappointments. Reflecting on that, it begs
the question: Do Juventus need to change their outlook? Arrigo Sacchi believes they do.
"In Juventus' history there are a lot of Scudetti but in the European record books you almost can't find her," he told La Stampa.
"It's like Emilio Butragueno once said to me: 'Your Milan ruined my Real Madrid generation. We won La Liga and the Copa del Rey five times, but
never the European Cup. So no one outside of Spain remembers us.'"
Arrigo Sacchi notably focused on European glory at the expense of domestic success. Could Conte ever do the same with Juve?
To an extent, Sacchi chose to neglect Serie A in order to chase greater glory. "I remember that with Milan we prepared for a month for the encounter
with Real. In the meantime we lost in the league to Cremonese and Ascoli, but we knocked Real out." It was worth it.
Would Conte contemplate doing the same? Would Juventus accept it? I think these are some of the reassurances he'll be seeking when he meets
the club's hierarchy in the coming days. Juve president Andrea Agnelli wishes to extend his contract beyond 2015. Before committing, Conte
presumably wants to know what's expected of him now and how the club is orienting its recruitment strategy for the summer. It seems that vast
amounts won't be spent.
Juventus have reached a ceiling as to how much revenue they can make at least until their other investments begin to come good and new TV and
sponsorship deals come into effect. Costs have risen and so the money they have to restructure the team in such a way that next season it can
maybe play 4-3-3 isn't substantial in comparison with other Champions League hopefuls.
As such, Conte will have to make the decision. Does he still have the energy to push this team on? Do the club have the means to help him take
things to the next level? Are they willing to put Europe first and Serie A second? Or is it maybe time to move on?
We'll find out soon.
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