Why do Serie A clubs change their managers so often?

Serie A clubs have become notorious for changing managers as often as possible, and it seemed to work.

Since the 2020/2021 season, three teams have won the Italian league crown, and none of the managers have won it twice with the same team.

Serie A is now considered one of the most competitive leagues in the world because of the quality of players and the competitiveness of the competition.

The Italians have some of the best stars in the world in their clubs, and they have always done well in European competitions over the years.

In the last few seasons, new investors have arrived in the country, buying a majority stake in the top clubs.

This has increased competitiveness as they all want instant success or at least to be around the top of the pile.

The club that has suffered the most from this is Juventus, which has watched its dominance of the Italian game fade season after season.

After winning the league crown in nine consecutive seasons between 2012 and 2020, the Bianconeri have not been champions in the past five seasons.

Read More: Is this the worst Juventus team in two decades?

Other clubs have caught up with them, thanks to good investment and smart recruitments, which have led to more good players arriving in the league to delight fans who buy Serie A tickets.

The constant change of managers is born out of the desire of teams to take a chance at success and try to wrestle the league crown from the hands of the other teams.

How important is a new manager to a team

Although it has become rampant in Italian football over the last few seasons, changing managers is a constant in football, and sometimes it can be really ruthless.

Coaches have to meet expectations if they want to stay on their jobs, and clubs have to believe they are making progress under a manager before he stays on the job.

There are club owners who just enjoy firing managers and bringing in new faces if they cannot make instant changes to their teams.

However, there are managers who also enjoy leaving teams unless they believe that the club’s owners and decision-makers are making calls that allow them to be successful.

One coach you can trust to walk away when things are not going his way is Antonio Conte, who now manages Napoli.

He won the league crown with them in his first season last term and surprised most people when he decided to stick around for another term.

Read More: Why Antonio Conte is the perfect manager for Napoli.

Most new managers command the respect of the squad, which plays to their advantage and helps them achieve quick success.

When a new coach arrives on a team, the players tend to believe in him and respect his decisions, which creates the new manager bounce that most clubs enjoy during those periods.

This is one of the most profound reasons why some clubs change their coaches at the earliest chance that they get, while a few of them become addicted to the success that a new manager brings and continue to change coaches.

Why changing managers is a trend in Italian football

As we covered earlier, the new owners in Italian football are not the most patient, so they want to ensure that they can start making money from the sale of Champions League tickets as soon as possible.

Even those who have taken over teams like Bologna want to quickly recoup their investments, which has created a need to bring in a new manager who can achieve instant results at the club.

Conte’s success at Napoli has not helped this because he has just proven again that the right manager does not need much time to win the league.

He and Max Allegri are two coaches who know how to bring instant success to a club when they arrive on the scene.

The managerial appointments with a point to prove in 2025/2026

Fans who buy Napoli tickets will feel that their team has had the biggest success in the summer after keeping Conte for another season on their bench.

Conte was widely expected to leave the club and return to Juventus, but they somehow convinced him to stay, and he even signed a new contract. 

Which new managers have a point to prove this season?

Max Allegri, AC Milan

Allegri was unattached for the 2024/2025 season following his Juventus sacking in the summer of 2024, and he is back.

He won a league crown with AC Milan in his first spell as their manager, and there is so much expectation that he will make the team better after their troubled 2024/2025 season, which saw them fail to clinch a European spot.

Gian Piero Gasperini, AS Roma

After a decade as the manager of Atalanta, where he won the Europa League in 2024, Gasperini left La Dea to become the manager of Roma.

This offers him a chance to show that his methods can work outside Bergamo and put him in the conversation among the best coaches in Europe.

If he takes them back to the Champions League as consistently as he did at Atalanta, he will sell more AS Roma tickets.

Cristian Chivu, Inter Milan

Chivu has big shoes to fill after being made the replacement for Simone Inzaghi, and his team struggled at the Club World Cup.

It is difficult to compete at a top club in Serie A, and he will have a hard time doing well against some of the best coaches in the world.

Maurizio Sarri, Lazio

Sarri is back on a managerial bench after a year out of work, and Lazio has convinced him to take over their bench.

The former Chelsea coach, who won the Europa League in 2019 and the Serie A crown at Juventus in 2020, will hope his methods can still bring him success.

Ivan Juric, Atalanta

Juric relegated Southampton from the Premier League last season, yet Atalanta thinks he is the ideal replacement for Gasperini.

He has to prove them right, and he is taking over from a very successful coach, so it is not an easy task to complete.

Carlos Guesta, Parma

Cuesta was given the Parma job at 29 after years of being an assistant manager of Mikel Arteta and being regarded as one of the finest coaches around.

At Parma, he will have the opportunity to develop, unlike at larger teams, but he must ensure his team does not get relegated. Can he overachieve for them?

Stefano Pioli, Fiorentina

After a short stint at Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia, 2022 league-winning manager Pioli is back in Serie A on the bench of Fiorentina.

La Viola wants a return to the Champions League, and his first task would be to help them qualify for that competition, and he is good enough for that task.