J83: The reason Marrotta pulled off the 'great' Pirlo signing was because we started talking to him six months in advance. Also, when you consider what kind of salary, he's on, youll realise only two other clubs besides AC could afford him, one of whom he had already played for. So that leaves us. Chelsea were a suitor with Ancelotti at the helm, but he was fired, and that completely threw the dice in our favour. I don't see how Marrotta pulled it off like it was the most twisted saga of the summer.
Vidal was a hot contest between Bayern and us, more than any other clubs. And given that Bayer wouldn't sell him within Germany, it made our job easier, as did the player's will to a great extent which helps with pricing as well. It happened with Krasic a year earlier when ManCity came knocking but he chose Juve. It wasn't Marrotta's genius as much as it was the will of the player. Marrotta's true genius could and should've been measured by the Sanchez, Aguero and Rossi deals, the kind of players he mentioned very categorically in the press. He failed in all, and that's how we ended up spending on more areas. Yes we cant compare with ManCity and Barcelona and half of Europe, but if we hadnt spent on quantity thhen we might have had a shot given that our net spends are more than ManCity. Also we need to ask ourselves why we spent one third of our summer chasing players we failed to sign eventually? It shows on Marrotta because if we were intelligent with our allocation, the finances were there.
You misunderstood the bit about Quag. I said that those fantastic players Iaq, Amauri and Toni should've been first in the firing line before Quag. It has nothing to do with Matri's purchase.
About Barzagli, what I'm trying to say is Conte worked with what he had and it clicked because Marrotta had bought him in as replacement for Legro. And Conte didnt trust Bonucci enough at the start of the season. The starting CB was a priority we failed to close on, on the last day of the market because Beppe couldn't close. Rhodolfo, Astori, Alves, Alex. Take your pick. The Barzagli signing looks really shrewd but in reality it shows we have a position that still needs cover.
Pepe was being used in a swap deal because he was a mediocre player who had put in medicre performances and was therefore being sold. I can understand that. But then, if that's the case, why did we buy him in the first place. Because I don't think he was a shadow of himself at Juventus. He was always this player. Nothing more. Nothing less. To think that Marrotta got him and Licht at the same price should make you wonder how hit and miss he is in his valuation of the market and the players he deals with.
As for Bonucci, again no harm in wanting another defender. I can live with Conte wanting another player, but buying a relative unknown player for 15m in the first place? Faced with this situation, it only means, its another deal we'd be losing a lot of money on because Marrotta failed in a)valuing the player, b)convincing Conte to see what he had seen in the player to value him such. Should we even mention the Ziegler phenomena? He lacks basic long term vision because deals like just prove Juventus to be a revolving door. The key to a strong foundation of all successful teams, is continuity.
I fault Marrotta for three things primarily. These are: not understanding the culture of the club and it's process. You cant try and change a system you havent been part of, overnight. In his first season, he made unnecessary changes that affected our level of quality and increased spends on the market unnecessarily. If you remember, when Marrotta first came and said that the goal of the market was not to revolutionise the squad but to reduce salaries and decrease the age of the squad. I don't think he really did that effectively enough. A signing like Luca Toni for instance, didn't reduce the salary cap, nor did it decrease the age of the squad. That too, while Trezeguet continued being on the books. At another club!!!
And secondly, his inability to communicate through the press. No director ever talks about signing world class players and naming them and then signing Vucinic. I'm sorry, but its just not done. Then you talk about achieving fourth place after one bad season. That is suicide. Shows an amateurish mind at work who can't keep his cards close to his chest. A lot of the reason why we ended up with the players we did this season, and the way they were integrated into the squad came down to Conte's vision for each of them.
You probably may not agree but loan with an option to buy is a recipe for disaster. A guy who does that as blatantly as our main man, is as unsure of himself as he is, of the vision he has for the club he works with. I feel like Marrotta is conditioned by working for smaller clubs that he just doesn't have it in him to understand and cut it at the biggest club of them all. I'm glad we have a guy like Conte who will not suck up to him and perhaps try and break his thinking with his own winning mentality that he imbibed during his time at Juventus.
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