He was thrown into a toxic atmosphere, outside the top 4, after two humiliating defeats to Atalanta and Fiorentina, with nine matches left and three away matches against direct rivals like Roma, Lazio and Bologna. The squad was weak, plagued by injuries, and all odds were against him. I gave him a 10% chance of making the top 4.
Yet he did it, and he did it well. In the mini table for the last 9 rounds, his Juve finished only three points behind the best team in that stretch, champions Napoli (21 vs 18 points).
The fact that he was given a new contract says more about the short-term ambitions of this club, as confirmed by this summer mercato, and it’s certainly not his fault that the management chose to stick with him and expect results from this mediocre squad.
So far he has delivered and not a single criticism holds up.