Damn. Allegri does spend a lot on dairy. I wonder what kind of milk
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I'm sure it will double if he succeeds in the first season.
Any clue when our first game under him will be?
No clue Bro, but I'm willing to guess sometime around mid to late Sep.
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Juve risk it all with Pirlo
As Juventus’ appointment of Andrea Pirlo starts to sink in, Livio Caferoglu analyses the risk and reward of backing a great player to become a great coach...
Just when we thought 2020 couldn’t get any weirder, Juventus exceeded all our expectations on Saturday. Maurizio Sarri was sacked in the morning after an unconvincing Scudetto defence and elimination from the Champions League at the hands of Olympique Lyonnais. Then, in the evening, amidst all the speculation of who could possibly replace Sarri, Andrea Pirlo signed a two-year contract to succeed him, barely a week on from being named coach of the Bianconeri’s Under-23 team in his first managerial role.
Make no mistake about it, this may be the riskiest appointment Juve have ever made. Bringing in Sarri last summer was brave enough as it signalled the Old Lady’s intent to scrap the formula that delivered them a succession of Serie A titles, in favour of a more ‘modern’ approach. However, the marriage was doomed from the start. The Bianconeri failed to provide him with players suitable for his system, which didn’t mesh well with the coach’s insistence on playing his way.
Thus, the decision to dismiss the former Napoli and Chelsea boss was made before any more rot could set in. All roads seemed to lead to Mauricio Pochettino, ready-made for Juve on paper, but that would’ve been too much of a sideways step. Instead, they are putting it all on the line, entrusting Pirlo with taking them where his predecessor couldn’t.
Whereas sporting director Fabio Paratici poorly tried to pass off Sarri as his ‘first choice’, he had no shortage of superlatives to describe the 41-year-old.
“The decision for Pirlo was very natural, in the Juventus style, because he is someone who as we said just over a week ago played with us, has always been in contact with everyone here and it felt natural,” explained Paratici. “We also believe he is destined for greatness. He was as a player and we think with confidence he can do the same as a coach.
“Andrea has in his mind the same approach to coaching as he does when he played. That’s football of great quality and hard work. He wants to propose a certain type of football, the kind European teams are generally trying to follow, and he was very convincing in his explanation to us.”
The most intriguing aspect of Pirlo’s appointment concerns his complete lack of experience. He becomes the latest legendary figure to manage the team they enjoyed so much success with as a player, following in the footsteps of Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid, Pep Guardiola at Barcelona, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Manchester United and Frank Lampard at Chelsea. Yet the former Milan midfielder only received his UEFA Pro Licence earlier in the summer and therefore, unlike them, hasn’t served any sort of apprenticeship.
Pirlo worked as a pundit for Sky Sport Italia while taking his coaching badges and prophesised Juve’s problems after Ajax knocked them out of the Champions League two seasons ago,
declaring they lacked quality in midfield and that they ‘didn’t know how to get the ball’ to Cristiano Ronaldo. Of course, being a great orator doesn’t necessarily equate to being a great coach (just ask Gary Neville), but his comments would have come as a breath of fresh air to a fan base fed up with the lack of service to Ronaldo.
Not much is known about Pirlo’s managerial philosophy at this stage, but he did recently tell fellow World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro that 4-3-3 was his desired formation, with ‘everyone forward’ and ‘lots of possession’. He then made some revealing remarks at his U23 unveiling, professing his love for passing football but also stressing the need to win. And despite being an admirer of Sarri, the Italy icon suggested he would not be as stubborn, focusing more on getting the best out of the players available to him.
“I have a specific way of playing in my mind, it’s with ball to feet and always going for the victory,” he said. “I hated some things as a player and never want to see them again. Systems aren’t the issue, it’s about occupying the space and working with the characteristics of the players.
“I would’ve liked to play in today’s Juventus. I like Sarri’s style of football, the playmaker sees so much of the ball and I’d have really enjoyed myself. I need to explain to these lads what Juventus really means. Anyone who plays against us will want to win even more and we must prove ourselves every time.”
A two-year deal suggests Juve will not hesitate in pulling the plug on Pirlo if the job proves too much for him, but he will surely be wrapped in cotton wool with a first-class backroom team behind him. President Andrea Agnelli has high hopes for his high-stakes gamble, allegedly believing he can emulate Zidane by commanding instant respect of the squad, which includes several of his former teammates, among them Gianluigi Buffon, who at 42 is older than his new boss.
Juve’s grip on Serie A has been a given for the last nine years, but they seem prepared to lose it if it means finally winning the Champions League. It may be that the Old Lady end up with neither as a result of having Pirlo in the hotseat and cause themselves more damage in the long run compared to sticking with Sarri. For them, however, the rewards outweigh the risks. For them, Pirlo holds the best chance of ending 25 years of hurt.
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