Sarri and Juventus FC, a mismatch of communication

Rumor has it that, after 45 minutes of the first friendly game on the Juventus bench, an unsatisfied Maurizio Sarri returned to the locker room and approached his new players like this: "How could I ever lose two titles to a team like you?".

It was meant to be a joke; it would become a trap. The past few days saw the end of a never born romance. Roughly 12 months, a Scudetto won in some way, a Champions' League lost in the same old way.

It is not our thing to discuss the possibility or not to structure a game system without having the time and opportunity to choose your players. We don't wish to get into the conversation on who made more mistakes between the club and its coach, none of our business. Only, it's hard to imagine a person more out of place than Maurizio Sarri in the aristocratic Juventus scenario. Who knows how many times his scruffy way and the ever-cigarette have earned him suspicious looks from his employers.

Regardless of his technical qualities, Sarri was the most inappropriate coach for the Juventus environment. Someone who swears at the press conference, out of sloppiness rather than anger, who touches his genitals in front of everyone for good luck, could hardly match the Turin-based club's old-school style.

Communication, even in the insane world of soccer, is too relevant today. If you do not have a good vocabulary and a pinch of style, if you are not spontaneous and never smile, if you do not know how to express your ideas with clarity and patience, it is hard to get very far.

When Italian coaches go to the Premier League, they have someone looking after them, with the steep goal of teaching them a decent English.  When a manager reaches such a high level to have a chance in famous clubs, nobody bothers to explain to him how to relate to the new dimension. Only a few, more prudent ones learn on their own: Pirlo himself will have to commit himself to that. A player can afford to be not very talkative; a coach cannot. But he does match the Juventus-style, so the feat should be less worrisome.

Sarri's story dismantled the old saying that winning is all that counts at the end of the day.

The one important thing is having charisma, especially if you have to deal and build a relationship with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo - something you don't do by going to his yacht to ask for his blessing. It could never work: it was clear from the start.

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