Thiago Motta breaks silence after Juventus sacking: ‘I don’t accept personal attacks, I’d change many things’ | OneFootball

Thiago Motta admitted that he would change ‘many things,’ but argued that he was sacked by Juventus when his team was just one point away from what the club had considered their ‘priority target’ at the start of the season.

Speaking in a lengthy interview with Il Corriere della Sera less than two weeks after his Bianconeri dismissal, Motta lamented that he received ‘unacceptable’ ‘personal attacks’ questioning his relationship with the players.

Instead, he remarked that he had an ‘excellent’ relationship with everyone in the locker room, insisting that it is unfair to call his time at the club a ‘failure’.

“It’s difficult to analyse, being so close to what happened,” Thiago Motta said when asked why his experience at the Allianz Stadium ended prematurely.

epa11889266 Juventus coach Thiago Motta looks on during the UEFA Champions League play-offs first leg soccer match between Juventus FC and PSV Eindhoven, in Turin, Italy, 11 February 2025. EPA-EFE/ALESSANDRO DI MARCO

“I’m certainly disappointed because it didn’t go as we hoped, especially in the Coppa Italia and Champions League. However, I don’t agree when I hear talk of failure: our work was interrupted when we were just one point off fourth place in the standings, which was, at the beginning of the season, the primary goal.

“When I accepted this role with great enthusiasm, I knew it would be a three-year project, based on a profound revolution of the team and its radical rejuvenation.

“I know very well that at clubs of Juventus’ level, you have to win. Especially after years in which this hasn’t happened. The project didn’t go the way we wanted or imagined.”

Motta: ‘Anyone who says I had Juventus players against me is a liar’

The Bianconeri’s decision to replace Motta with Igor Tudor during the international break somehow clashed with the club’s public statements, but the former Bologna boss accepts that ‘winning is imperative’ for the Old Lady, as he paid the price for his side’s two consecutive heavy defeats against Atalanta and Fiorentina.

“Publicly, they expressed their trust and the indication to continue with the project,” he continued.

“These were important signals, which ultimately give you peace of mind and motivation to keep working. We always believed we would continue to push to finish the season by securing fourth place and qualifying for the Champions League.

“But I know football, and I know things can end the way they did because at a big club like Juventus, winning is imperative, and especially in the last two matches, we didn’t perform well, and they legitimately chose another path.”

While Motta admits there are definitely things that he ‘would change’, he believes it’d be a mistake to throw away all the work they have done.

epa11908472 Renato Veiga of Juventus FC leaves the pitch du to injury during the UEFA Champions League knockout phase play-offs 2nd leg soccer match between PSV Eindhoven and Juventus FC in Eindhoven, Netherlands, 19 February 2025. EPA-EFE/KOEN VAN WEEL

“We did many things well, but there are definitely many things I would change,” the coach conceded.

“I’ve always analysed what went wrong, but even after a win, I always think something could be changed—a game strategy, a substitution, a choice, a starting player.

“Just because you win doesn’t mean everything is perfect. There are many things I would redo, many things I would change.

“In the last two matches, we played badly, so I would certainly change my choices.

“No one who isn’t arrogant denies their own mistakes. But I don’t accept that all the work we’ve done is thrown away.

“A completely new team, plagued by injuries, was about to reach the set goal. But I accepted the club’s decision, and I hope the best for Juventus.”

Ultimately, being accused of lack of empathy towards his players is what hurt Motta the most.

“These are the things that bother me because people can criticise me as a coach for my choices, and I accept that. But anyone who says I had the locker room against me is a liar,” Motta claimed.

“These are unacceptable things, it’s not true. No one I’ve worked with in my career has publicly said they had problems with me.

“At Juventus, I had a great relationship with all my players, both professionally and personally. A relationship based on respect and clarity. It’s normal that those who play less may be less happy. I was a player too, and when I wasn’t playing, I certainly wasn’t happy. But I always respected the coach’s decisions, and so did the Juventus players.

NAPLES, ITALY – JANUARY 25: Thiago Motta Juventus head coach gives instructions during the Serie A match between Napoli and Juventus at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on January 25, 2025 in Naples, Italy. (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images)

“I believe I showed that those who don’t play today can do so later, depending on their fitness and how they train. In this period, I’ve had to listen to not only technical criticisms, which are always worth considering, but also personal attacks.

“I find this way of acting in the shadows arrogant and indecent, because the relationship with my players and the team was excellent, and these guys always gave their all, always did their best. Sometimes we won, sometimes we didn’t.

“Judging me as a coach, criticising my choices on the field, player selections, tactics—all that has to do with football I accept and will always accept. In fact, these analyses help me grow. But I don’t accept personal attacks based on gossip.”

Motta also explained that the sadness he felt during his last visit to Juventus’ training centre stemmed from his conviction that things ‘would go differently’.

“I was sad because when I accepted this job, I imagined it would go differently,” he added.

“But it was a great experience, both professionally and personally. Right now, I’m enjoying my time with my family because, when I’m coaching, my family stays in Portugal, as we don’t want to change schools for the girls.

“It’s a privilege to be with them at such a negative moment. But I’m ready to return to embrace another project, continue my work, and try to do my best in the next chapter.”