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Cristiano's Gamble

Before we start our dissection we must understand how it started and why?

Cristiano's move might not make sense at first, he was swimming in Europe glory, almost guaranteeing him individual awards each year. Why would he go from that to a whole new experience nearing the end of his career?

Cristiano has made a gamble, simply put. The reason for that gamble can be understood considering his goal: being the best of all time. What would have been a better way to do that than joining Clarence Seedorf as the only two players to win it with three different sides as well as doing it with a club that has been chasing the title for years?

Cristiano would have been the hero of the century for Juventus, the one who brought them their long-awaited title. The one they saw two teams, including one with Cristiano himself, lift it right in front of their eyes. A unique headline with a unique record to accompany it. Another win of the title with Madrid, while would have added to his cabinet, wouldn't have added much to the conversation.

Why Juventus?

To understand this one we must go to Juve's journey few years before the signing. Juve has always been close, They had qualified to two finals losing against tremendous teams, Barcelona's MSN, and a Real Madrid side that had won it four times with the current squad excluding few changes. But Juventus had an overall clear strategy.

Under Allegri, there were clear ideas as time went by, ideas relating to the playing system, players leaving and coming in. Allegri had the flexibility to adapt to everything around him. Juventus looked a strong, nightmarish side to face. All they lacked was cherry on top, the man who would score those extra few goals needed, a man who was crucial at moments. And who is better to be that man than Cristiano Ronaldo? A man who has been doing exactly that the past few years.

Juventus and Cristiano Ronaldo were a match made in heaven. So what changed and turned Juventus from a finals contender to a side eliminated while looking seemingly toothless against Lyon and Porto.

Juventus' Gamble

As mentioned before, Juventus were only lacking a final touch to be a club that would win a Champions League title. To turn from that into a club eliminated by a team who every giant wanted to play to score a relatively easy qualification, and to make matter worse, it was a one-man short team for the bigger portion of the match requires some explanation.

Juventus decided to buy Cristiano Ronaldo as the cherry on top, to be the final part of the final phase of their project. The issue with that is, after less than a year of that final phase terminated the entire philosophy and ideas of that project, a season after Cristiano Ronaldo tried to adapt fully and succeeding at it. All due to a loss to an exceptional Ajax side that was seconds away from being in the final if it wasn't for a Lucas Moura goal in the final minute of their match against Spurs.

Allegri was sacked, marking an end to a project and philosophy that only needed an extra push, for which Cristiano was brought, and a beginning to a whole new project and philosophy that would require current players adapting and new players brought in to fill in roles that didn't exist before. After Sarri was brought in, Juve had a coach who builds teams in his own style. Sarri doesn't build from where his previous team's coaches stopped. He builds his own thing from the start.

Sarri might have succeeded overall, he is a proven coach. But he also the kind of coach who needs more than a season to build a team. That's a season out of Cristiano's life as a player. Then, matters were made worse by once again scrapping everything and starting all over again with Pirlo, a coach that had no experience prior. A coach, from the looks of it, will be sticking around as Juventus' manager for the next season at least as this is what he had to say when asked about the possibility of getting sacked.

I am the coach of Juventus, I was brought in for a more ample approach, a project that was always meant to develop over several years, so I am not concerned (About getting sacked).

Who To Blame

If Juventus were to lift the Champions League title in the past three years, Cristiano Ronaldo's name would be the one in the headlines. So he definitely has his share of the blame. However, The main portion of the blame should be directed at one man: Juventus' chairman Andrea Agnelli.

Andrea Agnelli's first-ever executive decision as chairman of the board was bringing in Giuseppe Marotta. The latter brought in Antonio Conte later and Juventus went on to dominate Serie A for years. In October he let go of Marotta, who became CEO of Inter Milan, brought in Conte and leading Inter to end the very domination they instigated.

Andrea Agnelli stopped two projects before their end and started two new projects unnecessarily. Two gambles, and considering the possibility of Pirlo staying, we are looking well into a third one.

In Conclusion

For the sake of the player and the club, Cristiano should move to another club. Cristiano can't afford to waste another year or two on a project that is just beginning, and Juventus can't handle the pressure of expectations as they have Cristiano Ronaldo and therefore are expected to be frontrunners for a title that they neither have the squad nor the manager to get. Cristiano's experiment with Juventus needs to come to an end while he has something left to give aside from stock price surges.