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Now, onto today's issue.

There was no point waiting anymore. Thiago Motta showed in nine months as Juventus manager that he couldn't turn draws into wins or even prevent historic home defeats. Naturally, he lost the dressing room, and fourth place, while only a point away, would've been as sure as gone had Motta remained at the helm.

Juventus needed a jolt to get them through the final nine games of the season. Igor Tudor was the only one available who could provide it.

While Motta couldn't quite shake his past at Inter — which fans dug up as results turned sour — Tudor can fall back on a historical connection with Juventus. He was a championship-winning defender for the Bianconeri and a teammate of Lilian Thuram, Antonio Conte, Zinedine Zidane, and Alessandro Del Piero, and he played with a ferociousness and commitment that Juventus currently lack. So he arrives with a lot of goodwill, if not time, as his contract is short and only guaranteed if he can secure Champions League football next season.

He's never stayed long anyway — at least not as a manager. One of his longest stints was at Hellas Verona during the 2021-22 season. It was one of the few times he lasted the entire campaign. He's a difficult man to placate, and often at odds with upper management, but he has the fire to produce some breathless attacking football. Verona finished in ninth place that season with 65 goals scored against 59 conceded.

Juventus don't necessarily need Tudor to be their Sir Alex Ferguson. They need him to light a fire in their players that has only briefly flickered this season. The hope is that he doesn't blow the whole thing up in the process. If he finds a group of players he deems lazy and unfit to wear the jersey, as they have sometimes appeared to be as a collective, he'd resign before getting let go. But if they work with him and believe in him, they'll press and force turnovers and play at an intensity Motta could only capture for a half at a time. Because Juventus have shown they can play with intensity. They hounded AC Milan to death in January and scavenged Napoli for a 1-0 lead at the Stadio Diego Maradona later that month. The problem was that they relented and allowed Napoli to claw it back.

Tudor will do his best to ignite the attack. There should be a net gain — even if it means losing a couple of times. Instead of drawing three games in a row, Tudor should be able to win two of those and come away with more points than they otherwise would have. He'd much rather win 3-2 than 1-0 anyway. But there's also an opportunity to pull away. Five of their last nine games are against teams in the bottom half of the table. It will be fun no matter what.