Juventus chief Comolli on choosing a new coach and using data the right way

New Juventus CEO Damien Comolli explains how he chooses a coach for his squad, the use of statistics to pick players, and why he gave up on Turkish football. ‘There was too much politics.’

The 52-year-old French-Italian figure was formally appointed as the new CEO of Juventus and gave some insights into his vision of the game when speaking at the Hudl Performance Insights conference.

Among his first tasks with the Bianconeri was the decision to sack Igor Tudor and bring in Luciano Spalletti, so what does he look for in a coach?

“In the first meeting with a club, every coach will make his presentation and say everything is great, but then once he begins training, he says everything is bad,” noted Comolli.

“Now I include those phrases in the contract, to remind coaches what they had said. I explain in the meeting that this is our process, the data guides the choice of players, set plays, injury prevention, and a lot more. If they accept that, then good, otherwise we can shake hands and say goodbye.

“The new coach has to embrace this philosophy.”

Comolli has worked at numerous different clubs, including AS Monaco, Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool, Fenerbahce and FC Toulouse before coming to Juve as director general in June 2025.

“I spend a good 30 per cent of my time thinking about the culture of a club, because you cannot achieve results without culture. I asked Blaise Matuidi and David Trezeguet, amongst others, what is the DNA of Juve. They all reply the same: ‘Winning.’

“The culture of a club is built from the ground up. We had a great meeting today to understand our culture. I said ‘you decide who we are, I can only give a few indications, but it starts from the ground up.’ The culture is the values of a club.”

He does not disguise his focus on data and statistical models to choose players, coaches and help every area of the sport.

“I was hired by RedBird at Toulouse to organise their data. Juve knew I would arrive with data, because that is my model. The key for the correct use of data is aligning the general manager to everyone all the way down, having someone who can act as a bridge and speak the language of the coach. If that person is a coach, and he is open to it, then the bridge works.

“At Toulouse, we would measure the mental condition of all the staff members every day to understand if there was stress, if they didn’t feel like coming to work. It was incredibly useful, and we decided not to hire those who weren’t motivated.”

Although he has worked in many different countries, Comolli admits the time at Fenerbahce was doomed to failure and he decided to walk away.

“I have been recruited by people in Japan, England, France, Italy, and if they ask me to lead their organisations, it’s because they want my culture to be theirs. If you do the same thing they were doing before, then something is not right.

“I have great respect for the local culture, but for example in Turkey, it couldn’t be changed. There was too much politics. I realised it wasn’t going anywhere.”