That's my take as well. Allegri is as risk-aversive as they come and his shadows eventually grow onto players. Pjanic wasn't a sidway passing midfielder when he came. I think he has a keen eye on talent and what that talent need to do to improve. It's just that in the end they regress because they all become "him". This is not an attempted criticism of Allegri. We all influence our surrounding and when you are in a position to actually influence your surrounding then all of you will be influencing your surrounding and not just some parts that you strive to influence with. Sandro was crazy the first year and it's such a shame to see him for the past years because he is a shadow of himself. You can see how great his technique is and everything but emphasis is put on the defensive side so... My criticism of Allegri is instead that he is most likely aware of this and doesn't see that he has a screwdriver but he is using it as a hammer. Why not use screws instead of nails? Why seek creative playmakers as your DMC if you actually only want a destroyer? That part I never understood with him. Would be cheaper to have a Zakaria type there than to take an expensive player and make him into a destroyer. And who is saying the DMC need to be part of the build up? Playmakers can drop deeper.... sorry, for the off topic rant. I wasn't meaning to attack the guy but ended up there anyway.
I like Allegri but it's a shame to see Sandro's regression based on his talent.