Juventus coach points to mental fragility after another defeat and defends Di Gregorio amid growing pressure
The alarm bells are ringing loudly in Turin. After Juventus fell at home to Como, head coach Luciano Spalletti did not hide behind excuses.
“If this is our level, we can’t aim for anything,” Spalletti said candidly. It was Juventus’ fourth defeat in their last five matches across Serie A and the Champions League — a brutal stretch that has put their season in jeopardy.
“It’s All About the Mind”
For Spalletti, the issues are rooted less in tactics and more in psychology.
“The performance was influenced by the first goal and by the episodes,” he explained to DAZN. “When you go behind, you stretch the team trying to recover. You press individually, they move you around with possession, and everything becomes more difficult.”
One statistic stood out to him: “If you concede 13 times on the opponent’s first shot on target, it’s clear there are problems.”
The coach believes the team is struggling to manage pressure. “When support, personality, and self-confidence drop, it becomes very hard to react mentally after mistakes. There’s too much weight inside the players’ heads right now. These episodes end up deciding games.”
He also pointed to unusual technical errors. “We misplaced so many passes in midfield today — passes these players normally don’t miss. That tells you something about our current state.”
Di Gregorio Not the Problem
Despite criticism aimed at goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio, Spalletti refused to single him out.
“Di Gregorio is perfectly aligned with the rest of the team. He has no more responsibility than anyone else,” the coach said firmly. “He made a mistake, yes — but we also made mistakes losing the ball carelessly before that. Responsibility is shared.”
Spalletti emphasized that the goalkeeper is experiencing the same difficult moment as the entire squad.
Champions League Race in the Balance
With a decisive clash against Roma looming in eight days, Juventus appear cornered. But Spalletti insists the outcome of the Champions League race will depend on internal resolve.
“Our real opponent is ourselves,” he said. “If we fix things mentally and technically, we can compete. If this remains our level, we cannot aspire to any result.”
Still, the coach made one promise clear: he is not walking away.
“I’ve told the players the same thing — I’ll be here until the end of the season for sure. Until the last day, I won’t lower my belief in them by even a millimeter.”
Juventus’ crisis may be deepening, but Spalletti’s message is unwavering: the solution starts in the mind — or there will be no solution at all.
