Arrigo Sacchi maintains Maurizio Sarri at Juventus was always ‘Mission Impossible’ because ‘the directors and club always believed in different values’ to beautiful football.
Sarri was brought in to replace Max Allegri, who won five consecutive Serie A titles and reached the Champions League Final twice, to provide more creativity and entertainment.
However, he struggled to get his ideas across and was sacked after just one year, making way for debutant coach Andrea Pirlo.
Arrigo Sacchi maintains Maurizio Sarri at Juventus was always ‘Mission Impossible’ because ‘the directors and club always believed in different values’ to beautiful football.
Sarri was brought in to replace Max Allegri, who won five consecutive Serie A titles and reached the Champions League Final twice, to provide more creativity and entertainment.
However, he struggled to get his ideas across and was sacked after just one year, making way for debutant coach Andrea Pirlo.
“Sarri had accepted a ‘Mission Impossible’ at Juventus,” wrote Milan legend Sacchi in La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“He needed patience and collaboration from the club, but the Juventus directors always believed in different values. The house motto is: winning is the only thing that matters.
“That way you ignore factors like merit, beauty, emotion, entertainment, harmony, culture and evolution.”
The Bianconeri stars never seemed to accept or even understand Sarri’s approach to one-touch football and constant movement off the ball, an issue he also found at Chelsea.
“Sarri inherited a team that was sated and fatigued by eight consecutive Serie A titles, with an ever-increasing average age,” continued Sacchi.
“A group with many soloists who are not eager to run and fight for their teammates. It was utopian to think Sarri could bring harmony and unity to an aged squad, not accustomed to being a collective of 11 players who work both defending and attacking, who are versatile, united by an invisible belief in their football.
“In Europe, the teams that dominate tend to be collectives, with an attacking approach. In Italy, they tend to win with a defensive and individualistic football.
“Andrea Agnelli, a great President, had tried to break with the past by hiring Sarri. He tried to move towards the future, but sadly didn’t have the patience to see it through.”