When Xavi announced in February that he would be down as Barcelona coach at the end of the season, Deco, the Catalan club's sporting director, was asked if Bologna boss Thiago Motta was in the running to take over. "I don't follow Motta's work on a regular basis," the former Portugal international told La Vanguardia, "as I'm not used to following his Italian team."

It was an astonishing admission, given the remarkable job being done by Motta at Bologna had already put him on the radar of nearly every top European club considering a change of manager this summer.

Indeed, both Manchester United and Juventus are both said to have stepped up their interest in hiring the former Italy international over the past few weeks - and rightly so, with Motta on the verge of qualifying for the Champions League with a team that last appeared in continental competition 22 years ago - in the Intertoto Cup.

'I see him doing very well'

While making a very public plea to Xabi Alonso to replace him as Liverpool boss this summer, Jurgen Klopp claimed that the "next generation" of great coaches was already out there. The German labelled the former Anfield favourite the "standout" and pointed out that Alonso had acted "like a coach" on the field during his illustrious playing career.

Motta was exactly the same (even though he may not have been quite as elegant a midfielder as his Spanish peer!). Former Paris Saint-Germain boss Laurent Blanc - who entrusted Motta with the responsibility of implementing his "footballing philosophy" - was even willing to predict, "I see him doing very well in this profession in the future."

It was a view shared by the PSG board, who put Motta in charge of the club's Under-19s immediately after his retirement from the game in 2018. He may not have lifted any trophies during his short spell in charge, but he did win plenty of plaudits for the attractive brand of football he coaxed out of a team with several youngsters that were playing at least two years above their age grade.

However, Motta's methods were met with scepticism by some within the game. He infamously spoke of his 4-3-3 formation as more of a 2-7-2, prompting widespread ridicule, and even though the two-time Champions League winner subsequently explained that he was speaking in vertical rather than horizontal lines while also including the goalkeeper in his system, the doubters were lining up to stick the boot in after he was sacked just two months - and 10 games - into his first coaching role at senior level, with Genoa bottom of Serie A.

'Met all our criteria'

Despite the backlash, Spezia turned to Motta after losing highly-rated coach Vincenzo Italiano to Fiorentina during the summer of 2021. "When we were looking for a new coach, we tried to analyse those candidates that could be compatible with my ideas of football, and, above all else, trying to find a coach capable of implementing a style of play that fit with the culture of Spezia," former sporting director Riccardo Pecini told GOAL.

"We analysed some profiles and we watched many games of the two or three coaches that we focused on. In the end, Thiago was the one that met all of our criteria."

His tenure could not have got off to a worse start, though. Just 11 days after Motta's appointment, Spezia were hit with a transfer ban that prevented Pecini from properly strengthening the squad.

"Even when he arrived, he did around 20 days of quarantine because of Covid-19, and couldn't attend friendlies and training, so it was difficult for him," Pecini admitted. "But he managed to concentrate solely on his work and not on all of the problems that we had."

'When he speaks, you listen'

Motta also managed to keep it together during a particularly tough period in the run-up to Christmas when it was widely reported that his job was at risk. Ultimately, though, Spezia resisted the temptation to wield the axe, partly because the players still had full faith in the manager - and his methods.

That was partly down to his pedigree. As former Spezia midfielder Giulio Maggiore told GOAL, "He was an incredible player, so it's normal that when he speaks, you listen."

However, ex-Spezia forward Emmanuel Gyasi also appreciated the fact that Motta was such a "straight-talker". "He's very honest," the Ghanaian told GOAL. "He says things to your face. He'll just let you know directly if you're doing well or if you're doing badly."

Spezia's decision to stick with Motta was ultimately vindicated. A shock win away at Napoli just before the winter break sparked a fine run of form that also included a sensational 2-1 victory over AC Milan at San Siro, and played a pivotal role in Motta's team avoiding the drop in spite of all of their off-field issues.

It was that impressive escape act that convinced Bologna to hire Motta after a winless start to their 2022-23 Serie A season.

'Big change'

Motta was not exactly welcomed with open arms at the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara. The fans had respect for the job he had done at Spezia, but in Sinisa Mihajlovic, he was replacing a beloved coach, a legendary figure who had continued to lead the club during his brave battle with cancer. Roberto De Zerbi had even turned down the role because he didn't want to succeed the Serb.

Motta had an enormous amount of respect for Mihajlovic himself. "Sinisa will always be part of Bologna's history," he acknowledged, but he was nonetheless confident that even though he wouldn't be given much money to work with, he could build on the solid foundations that his predecessor had left behind.

He made an inauspicious start, failing to win any of his first four Serie A games, but that was hardly surprising. His daring tactics represented "a big change", as attacking midfielder Lewis Ferguson told Sky Sport Italia.

Motta often sounds like Johan Cruyff when he says that "the most difficult thing to do is play simple football" and there's certainly nothing straightforward about the demands he places upon players. As Maggiore told GOAL, Motta is "a bit different to other coaches in that he doesn't have a precise formation. He thinks that every player can interpret several roles", which is why striker Gyasi quipped, "I've learned to play not just on the wing but also in midfield, and even at left-back."

This versatility and fluidity is a reflection of Motta's reluctance to put labels on formations, as he feels numbers can be misleading. "You can be super offensive with a 5–3–2 and defensive in a 4–3–3," he once told the Gazzetta dello Sport.

However, with Bologna, Motta's plan was to play even more aggressively than he had at cash-strapped Spezia, as he believed he had players even better equipped to implement his possession-orientated game. Luckily for him, the squad embraced this bold, high-risk approach in possession, which revolved around slowly building from the back in order to draw opponents out, while also pressing intensely immediately after losing the ball before slipping back into a low block.

"He clearly explained his ideas with his way of playing, his vision of football, how he wanted us to be," Ferguson said. "We quickly got hooked and I think you can see it not only in the results, but in the performances, in the way we run for him, in the way we all defend together."

Nullifying opponents

Bologna really are an impressive defensive unit. Only Verona have won more tackles in Serie A this season, they rank third for possession won, while only Inter and Fiorentina have faced fewer shots. The net result is the third-meanest defence in Italy, both in terms of goals conceded and clean sheets.

However, what's particularly interesting about Motta's side is that they aren't just tough to break down because of the work they do without the ball in their 4-1-4-1 formation (although they do sometimes played with a double pivot in midfield instead). The fact that they hog possession also makes them incredibly difficult to beat.

The Rossoblu nearly never knock it long, rarely swing the ball into the mixer and seldom catch teams on the break - because they are all about retaining possession, and they do that better than most teams in Europe, boasting a higher percentage than runaway league leaders Inter in 2023-24.

Essentially, Bologna both play through and nullify opponents with possession football.

'All this is thanks to him'

Motta says he is entitled to only "0.001 percent of the credit" for Bologna's transformation from a bottom-half team to top-four challengers over the past 18 months, insisting that "the players are the real protagonists of this sport. It is they who make the decisions on the pitch."

However, Motta's impact has been enormous, his influence indisputable. Last season, he led Bologna to their highest league finish for more than a decade (ninth) and now he has the club with the eighth-smallest budget in Serie A sitting fourth in the table.

He has done this by improving numerous players, most notably Joshua Zirkzee, one of the most in-demand strikers in Europe right now after benefiting from a couple of "clips around the ear" from his coach during a desperately underwhelming first year in Serie A, and Riccardo Calafiori, a former full-back that has been converted into a brilliant, ball-playing centre-half.

Consequently, Bologna's relatively young and inexperienced squad, which was expertly and inexpensively assembled by former Atalanta technical director Giovanni Sartori, are willing to run themselves into the ground for Motta in each and every game. "We even train at a very high intensity," Ferguson revealed. "All this is thanks to him."

Ladies and gentlemen, we present to you:

ＭＯＴＴＩＳＭＯ ⚽️😍#BolognaUdinese #WeAreOne pic.twitter.com/eKuqDWkMtc

— Bologna FC 1909 (@BolognaFC1909en) April 4, 2023

There is, of course, a fear that Bologna will run out of steam in the closing stages of the campaign, particularly with Ferguson having just been sidelined with ligament damage in last weekend's 0-0 draw with Monza. The Scotland international, who combines with Zirkzee and Italy winger Riccardo Orsolini to great effect, has been integral to Bologna putting themselves in a position to qualify for next season's Champions League, and his injury-enforced absence could not have come at a worse time, with the Rossoblu facing fifth-placed Roma at the Stadio Olimpico on Monday evening.

However, with Motta on the bench, Bologna have continually found a way to get by. They lost some key players during the summer, including Jerdy Schouten, Nicolas Dominguez, and Marko Arnautovic, but are now just six games away from immortality.

It's also a given that they'll fight right until the end. Bologna are, as Motta says, the biggest "ball-breakers" in Serie A, the team that is embarrassing so many richer rivals by playing a far superior brand of football on a grossly inferior budget.

It's hardly surprising, then, that the key decision-makers at United and Juventus have been following Bologna so closely this season - but absolutely shocking that Deco has not.