He did it in Milan on the Inter bench, he did it in Naples where he won the Scudetto, and now he is doing it in Turin, where he inherited a club in dire straits. Nothing was working for Juventus, from the new signings to the dressing room atmosphere. The league table was worrying, and many players were struggling both technically and mentally.
Aside from the surprising, and very surprising, draw against Lecce, Juventus has strung together a series of victories and convincing performances. These results have put the team back in the race for a Champions League place and perhaps even for the Scudetto. The Juventus environment is now full of enthusiasm: supporters are delighted not only with the results, but also with the sense that Spalletti has restored ambition to the club.
Above all, he has revived several players who had faded and were performing well below expectations. This is his specialty, and in Italy he is clearly the best at it. No one matches his ability to adapt, solve problems, and at the same time build for the future.
A true master
Serie A is full of coaches who know how to manage crises and sometimes even escape from very difficult situations. Claudio Ranieri has been a master of this for decades, and last year, before moving into a managerial role and stepping away from coaching, he led Roma on an extraordinary run. Max Allegri is another example, as he showed during his most recent spell on the Juventus bench, when he guided the club through a period of profound crisis both on and off the pitch. Still, there is no one else who can restore both the present and the future of a club quite like Spalletti.
In this sense, the former Napoli coach is a true master. He knows how to push the right buttons in the dressing room, how to bring the group onto his side, and with sharp tactical intelligence he always identifies problems and solves them. He often does so by simplifying things, especially in the early phase of his work. First he stabilizes the situation, then he corrects the flaws and begins to rebuild, frequently restoring the confidence of key players step by step, match by match.
His methods and communication are not particularly refined, and they are certainly not elegant; he can be brusque and is disliked by many opposing fans, but his success rate is remarkable. He is essentially a problem solver in the purest sense, a real life version of Mr. Wolf from Quentin Tarantino’s film.
No matter how serious the situation, no matter the position in the standings, and no matter how many issues need to be addressed, Luciano Spalletti sits down with patience and clarity and methodically fixes everything. Sooner or later, and this is another undeniable truth, he often ends up clashing with owners or parts of the club environment. This is also a consequence of his perfectionism and his willingness to do whatever is necessary, obviously within the limits of the law, to solve problems.
Biggest personality in the dressing room
There is no hierarchy in the dressing room, no armband, no salary, and no status that outweighs his guiding principle. Spalletti’s priority has always been, and always will be, the good of the team, the greater good. He does not make exceptions: Francesco Totti, Paulo Dybala, and Mauro Icardi know this very well. He is almost obsessed with putting collective interest above any individual. Of course, some players are stronger and more decisive than others, but when behavior is wrong, no one is untouchable: Spalletti moves on, because the team always comes first.
At the moment, Kenan Yıldız is clearly Juventus’ most important and decisive player, and Spalletti is nurturing and praising him. However, there is another player who has rediscovered his smile in recent weeks and should probably consider thanking the Tuscan coach in some way.
That player is Jonathan David: once a mystery figure, he is now back and has scored two goals in his last two matches against Sassuolo and Cremonese. These were not impossible games, of course, but scoring breeds confidence and confidence breeds goals. Spalletti has identified yet another issue to resolve and there is little doubt that he will solve this one as well.