Thiago Motta ran a tight ship at Bologna last season and qualified the team for the Champions League. Those tactics and style of play caught the attention of one of Europe’s biggest clubs, Juventus. With things slowly turning around for The Old Lady, it’s time to examine Motta’s tactics and try to answer whether he is the right man for the prestigious job.
Remember that you can use any of the information you’ve learned here when playing FootballCoin, the free fantasy football game which includes Serie A’s matches.
Thiago Motta’s Career Prior to Managing Juventus
When I analyzed Thiago Motta‘s Bologna side, I dared call the Brazilian “the next great football manager.” At least one prestigious organization agreed with me: Juventus, the Italian Serie A’s most prestigious team.
However, Motta’s esteemed reputation in the football world must have motivated at least part of the decision to hire him. Motta grew up in Sao Paolo, Brazil and made a real name for himself in some of Europe’s finest leagues.
Throughout his storied career, he has represented Barcelona, Inter, Atletico Madrid, and PSG, some of the world’s best football clubs. Motta was appreciated for his skill and respected for his intelligence and integrity.
In fairness, the defensive midfielder always looked like someone who could enjoy a career as a football manager. His time playing in the Italian national team influenced part of his football philosophy. He earned 30 caps for Squadra Azzura, having played for Brazil at youth level earlier in his career.
Motta started his management career early. Immediately after retiring as Ligue 1 champion with Paris Saint-Germain, he became manager of Genoa. He next managed Spezia and Bologna. It was at the latter, during the 2023/24 season where he truly impressed.
Helping a number of promising young players to come true the senior squad, Motta’s exciting brand of football put Bologna on equal footing with Italy’s finest teams. I Rossoblu earned an expected Champions League spot for this season, and Motta was summoned on top of the mountain, to struggling giants Juventus.
Football Philosophy
Does Thiago Motta’s football philosophy align with the Juventus DNA? He does have a few characteristics supporting this idea.
First of all, Motta seems right for a rebuild. It’s what Juventus desperately need following a dark patch. Inspired by Marcelo Bielsa and Joachim Low, the Brazilian invests a lot of energy in getting each player in the squad fighting for the same cause.
Inspired by Bielsa, in particular, Motta wants his team to attack and defend as a compact unit. Still, learning from Löw and German football broadly, Motta wants his teams to press aggressively and bravely. Bologna aimed to win the ball back within seconds of losing it.
The gegenpress was the main way that Motta’s teams scored goals in the past. When possession was regained, Motta wanted his team to create a goal-scoring opportunity at lightning speed.
Finally, Thiago Motta is confident in his own brand of football. This is the principal reason why he has overseen an overhaul of Juventus’ squad. Some famous players have left, and others will follow. New, oftentimes young players, have been brought into the first squad to lead the team forward.
Formations and Adaptability
Motta is a young manager who has a preferred formation but is also willing to adapt to the opposition’s strengths and weaknesses.
That preferred formation, used so often at Bologna and Spezia, is a 4-3-3. This will typically include technical attacking forwards and one very offensive-minded wing-back.
Remaking Juventus, Motta has brought some of his principles and married to those of the club. In their 12 Serie A games so far, Juve started two using a 4-3-3 formation. Otherwise, in all other matches, Motta opted for the more versatile 4-2-3-1. This is a formation also used by Massimiliano Allegri during his first and highly successful spell as manager of The Old Lady.
The 4-3-3 is one of the most popular options for setting up your formation in FootballCoin’s free fantasy football game, although the 4-5-1 is always hard to beat.
Juventus in Defence
Motta’s Bologna was a team remarked for its high-risk/high-reward defensive strategy. The team blended aggressive high pressing with positional defending. Especially when using a gegenpress approach, the risks were considerable. Bologna would concede one goal, on average, per game last season.
Some of this has rubbed on Juve, although, perhaps due to the nature of the squad, not quite as pronounced. However, the four goals scored by Inter or the two managed by Parma recently have raised concerns.
But this is by the by. Juventus have the best defensive record in the league at the moment.
The defensive structure is almost entirely Motta’s creation. He has insisted on the loan of Monza’s goalkeeper Michele di Gregorio, a surprising but inspired choice.
Opting for a four-man defence, Motta typically opts for a central defence partnership formed by Federico Gatti and Bremer. While technically limited, Gatti’s tactical awareness and concentration helped him register 2.7 clearances and 0.8 interceptions per game. Meanwhile, Bremer’s strength and skill help compensate in these areas.
The 24-year-old Andrea Cambiasso plays as the right full-back, while the more attacking capable Nicolo Savona is the left-sided wing-back. Neither are great crossers of the ball, but both are growing their abilities under the tutelage of Motta.
Juve’s Defensive Principles
Also, the technical misgivings aren’t often felt. Surprisingly, Juventus tends to adopt a mid-block this season. Players are not encouraged to press aggressively but rather to remain compact and force the opposition in wide areas where Juve’s players have numerical superiority.
Instead, Juve’s young players put in a full shift. It’s tactically that the team shines. Defenders know how to block out passing lanes. Wingers will always drop deep to help full-backs defend on the flank. And when looking to pressure the opposition into making a mistake, the entire team will do this as a compact unit.
Central defenders are comfortable climbing toward the midfield line and even changing places with the midfielders. All of this is done while keeping a tight structure which doesn’t allow teams to play in between the lines.
Wing-backs are essential to assembling a strong fantasy football team. The wing-backs capable of delivering assists are especially prizes in the game of FootballCoin which offers prizes daily.
Juventus in Attack
Motta operates differently at Juventus than he did at Bologna. What he has maintained, however, are the quick attacking transitions. Juventus tries to block passing lanes efficiently. When they do win back the ball, Juve’s attackers are instructed to create a goal-scoring chance within seconds. This is done through direct passes and the attackers’ runs in between defenders.
Another goal Motta is working toward is having an extremely versatile squad of players. Nearly everyone in the starting 11 can play multiple positions. This is helpful because, beyond changing roles during the game, Motta wants players to move to accommodate numeric superiority.
It’s not uncommon for the pivots, the central defenders or wingers to make quick defensive runs to try and help the build-up play. And while technical skill is still lacking in some players, they’ve keenly absorbed Thiago Motta’s tactical plan.
But the players who are highly technical and able to exploit space are playmaker Teun Koopmeiners and midfielders Manuel Locatelli and Khephren Thuram. They have been best at interpreting Motta’s instructions to play between the opposition’s lines. Their role is to find space and distribute a direct pass toward Dusan Vlahovic or simply to drag the opposition’s defender out of place.
Juve’s Build-Up
Finally, Motta’s Juventus is not merely a team that gets on the scoresheet by firing long balls to the striker. Most of the game is spent maintaining possession in the centre of the pitch through short passes. This is done through good ball control, but, also by ensuring that numerical advantage is always maintained in central areas.
What about scoring? Juve still benefits from the consistent scoring records of one of Serie A’s finest strikers, Serbia’s Dusan Vlahovic. Wide forwards/offensive midfielders Timothy Weah and Kenan Yildiz are also getting on the scoresheet often and repaying Motta’s belief in them.
Vlahovic is currently ranked 4* on FootballCoin. Considering his great, consistent record, it’s hard to imagine that he’ll fail to reach the highest ranking in the game, 5* in the near future.
What’s Next for Thiago Motta and Juventus?
Thiago Motta was a surprise choice for the position of manager of Juventus. But he is making risky yet smart choices.
For the 2024/25 season, Motta has reassembled Juventus’s squad without overspending. Many of the squad players are young and underrated but keenly determined to prove themselves. They’ve been following Motta’s tactics carefully, and this has made Juventus a team that’s hard to break down.
Will this be enough to make Juventus the top team in Italy once more? For the moment, that seems like a tall order. However, it’s easy to see what Motta is trying to build, and initial results have been above expectations.
If Motta gets Juventus into a Champions League spot this season, his work next season will be easier, as support will grow. The club’s fans are excited, as they should be.
