Former Juventus coach Thiago Motta certainly wasn’t the most beloved figure in Turin, as he hardly made himself any favours with his questionable man-management skills.
The Italian Brazilian has been sacked from his role after only eight months in charge. While the team’s woeful results in recent weeks were the main reason behind his dismissal, his unpopularity in the dressing room certainly didn’t help his case.
The 42-year-old was accused of being too brusque while addressing the squad. The players also didn’t appreciate the way he dealt with Nicolo Fagioli and Danilo who were pushed out of the club in January.
Hence, Motta never endeared himself to the players, and their lack of reaction upon his sacking was telling enough.
Moreover, Sandro Sabatini reveals a training-ground incident that summarises the manager’s approach. The Italian journalist claims that Motta tried to put Kenan Yildiz in his place by reminding him he’s not exactly on Lionel Messi’s level.
“Yildiz, at a certain point, evaporates in Thiago Motta’s hierarchy,” recalled Sabatini during his appearance on the latest episode of the podcast ‘Calcio Selvaggio (via IlBianconero).
“He’s a young guy, he found himself tossed around left and right and on a couple of occasions. During a training session, Motta told him: ‘Who do you think you are? You’re not Messi’”.
While we cannot be fully certain whether these alleged comments ensued or not, all the clues that emerged, either in recent days or even while Motta was still in charge, depict a clear image.
It simply appears that the former Bologna coach had lost the plot and had very few allies at the club, and that is mostly of his own doing, as he failed to forge amicable relationships with his players who hardly put up a fight in Florence while their manager’s job was on the line.
