Serie A: What to expect from Thiago Motta at Juventus, Antonio Conte at Napoli and Paulo Fonseca at Milan?

The 2024-25 Serie A season is about to start and there are many changes when we look at the managers compared to the past season. In fact, seven of the teams that finished in the top half of the 2023-24 Serie A season changed their head coaches during the summer. While AS Roma decided to confirm Daniele De Rossi after a positive second part of the season after he replaced Jose Mourinho on Jan. 16, Lazio’s Igor Tudor left the Biancocelesti a few weeks after replacing Maurizio Sarri and former Hellas Verona boss Marco Baroni was appointed to replace the Croatian manager. Paulo Fonseca became the new AC Milan coach, Antonio Conte is back in Serie A and joined Napoli, while Thiago Motta took charge of Juventus to replace Massimiliano Allegri. Let’s take a look at the biggest changes and what we can expect from them. 

Serie A kicks off this weekend as some of the world’s biggest cups battle for the Scudetto, and you can catch the action all season long on Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo Network and CBS Sports Network.

Paulo Fonseca, AC Milan

AC Milan decided to make a big change after ending a successful cycle under Stefano Pioli, the club owned by American businessman Gerry Cardinale appointed former AS Roma and Lille manager Fonseca. The Portuguese coach started off well in the pre-season and showed to have clear ideas for his new side that will also see U.S. men’s national team star Christian Pulisic as one of the leading faces of the team. Fonseca is back in the Italian Serie A after coaching AS Roma from 2019-2021 and will have to restore a positive mentality at AC Milan. The Rossoneri finished second in the league last season, but 19 points behind Inter, their city rivals. Also, Simone Inzaghi’s side won all of the last six derbies played, most notably the two Champions League semifinals in 2023 and the one that officially crowned Inter as the new Serie A champions on April 24 last season. Fonseca desperately needs to change this trend if he wants to have immediate success at the club and he has this chance quite soon as the Derby della Madonnina will be on Sept. 22.

Thiago Motta, Juventus

Probably the biggest revolution of the summer. Italian coach Motta left Bologna after reaching a historical Champions League qualification and was appointed by Juventus to start a new cycle after the end of the second Massimiliano Allegri spell at the club. Juventus made some key signings, such as former Monza goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio, midfielders Douglas Luiz and Khephren Thuram, but they also made some tough decisions. In fact, Motta decided to exclude from the roster players like Wojciech Szczesny, Federico Chiesa and USMNT midfielder Weston McKennie, among others. While we’re waiting to know what will happen in their future, it’s clear that this was a summer that meant a lot for the club. It’s a day zero for both Juventus and Motta, but at the same time there are many expectations for his first season in charge due to the changes made and this is why Juventus are immediately called to be a title contender. 

Antonio Conte, Napoli 

Conte is back to the Italian Serie A, and this is probably one of the biggest moves of the summer. Napoli’s owner Aurelio De Laurentiis decided to call Conte after the more than disappointing 2023-24 season, where Napoli finished 10th after winning the Scudetto one season before. Napoli have gone through several coaches but couldn’t find a way to fix their issues and this is what Conte is called to do in the shortest time possible. However, he already faced some issues during the summer as Napoli were not able to resolve the Victor Osimhen situation as he hoped. Considering that Napoli won’t be participating in any European competition this season and with the appointment of Conte, we need to consider them for a top-four spot. When he left Inter in 2021 after winning the Scudetto with the Nerazzurri, Conte said, “The Nerazzurri have the foundations to stay at the top for many years, it will be up to the others to follow. Maybe one day I will return to Italy to overturn the predictions again.” 

Will he be able to do it at Napoli? Will he have Osimhen to try and do it?

Serie A managers