Gianluigi Buffon has just crossed a line that he never crosses. The Juventus and Italy legend, known for his class and respect for his colleagues, publicly attacked Igor Tudor following his dismissal from the Old Lady. The Croatian was fired last week after a disastrous seven months on the job, unable to turn around a team that had gone eight games without a win. Luciano Spalletti replaced him and won his first match in Cremonese. But Buffon, during an interview with Viva el Futebol, did not mince his words. And his statements directly target Tudor, his former teammate at Juventus.
A strong tackle against Tudor
The implication is violent. Buffon said : “I don’t know if they were really convinced by the project. Seeing the decision taken a few days ago (the dismissal of Tudor) and the timing, it makes me think that there wasn’t much conviction from the start. » A polite way of saying that Tudor should never have been appointed, or at least never should have stayed this long. Buffon drives the point home : “Then they went for the best profile that existed: the choice of Luciano (Spalletti) can guarantee Juventus supporters a series of results that the fans and the club expect. I am disappointed with only one thing: I would have liked to see someone like him from the start of the season, with his preparation, his selection of players. »
Buffon doesn’t stop there. Asked specifically about Tudor, he blurted out: “It seems to me that there was a problem of empathy with management. Reading the newspapers, this becomes clear. Only those inside know the truth. I’m talking about empathy with management. » Then he adds, scathingly: “ Looking at the last two or three interviews he gave… I think of the one after the Como match. A reporter hearing that can’t ask the next question about that, but they clearly didn’t get it. I said to myself: if I were a journalist, I would have had something to work on, but they didn’t understand that. »
Buffon is not used to this kind of declaration
What is striking is that Buffon has not accustomed us to this kind of noisy declarations. Generally, he is a very classy person, who respects his former teammates and work colleagues. But there, he allowed himself to publicly attack his former coach, who was also his former partner at Juventus. Tudor and Buffon wore the bianconero jersey together between 2001 and 2005. But obviously, the Croatian’s catastrophic performances this season pushed Buffon to come out of the woods.
Igor Tudor was fired after leading Juventus from first to eighth place in a matter of weeks. Eight matches without a win, five draws and three defeats in the last five days of the championship. The team’s last goal was on October 2 against Villarreal in the Champions League. An unbearable situation which precipitated his departure. Buffon, obviously, believes that Tudor should never have been appointed. And he didn’t say it with a grain of salt.
