'Everyone says calcio sucks, but…’
Juventus Coach Massimiliano Allegri has hit out Italy’s negative mindset with domestic football: “Everyone says Italian football sucks.”
The Bianconeri’s 3-2 win over Roma in Week 6 was shrouded in controversy for the decisions of referee Gianluca Rocchi, in awarding two close-call penalties to Juve, whilst allowing their winning goal in spite of a contentious offside.
For the winning team’s Coach, the fallout from the match is more a reflection of society than the importance of what happened.
“The thing that has done the most harm to Italian football is that they have spoken about the episodes and not about the game,” Allegri has told the Corriere della Sera today.
“At a technical aspect it was good, intense, beautiful to watch. Upon this, silence. In Italy the increased emphasis is on the not so good things.
“Everybody says 'Italian football sucks’, but nobody does anything because it is the best. Everyone says 'Italian referees are the worst’, then we find them refereeing the World Cup Final.
“The Italian teams concede dubious penalties abroad and they are silent. From this, nothing happens.
“From the match against Roma there remains three points. The win, never simple, in a direct confrontation.
“The decisions from Rocchi were elevated to the highest level because it was Juve-Roma. The same in a lot of low-to-medium level games no-one cares anything about.
“What has been lost is the good performance of Juventus against Roma, a great team who have in Totti an extraordinary player.
“Are Juventus the public’s enemy? There are 50m fans, Juve have 12, the rest are Milan, Inter, Roma and so on. Everyone is against Juve. Now I realise that.
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Allegri: There is no Vidal case
Max Allegri says there is no case with Arturo Vidal, whilst it is too early to suggest the title race is only between Juventus and Roma.
Juve’s international break has been hit by growing speculation over Vidal’s future at the club, following reports on why he was left out of the starting line-up against Roma in Week 6.
For his Coach, though, there is no issue to focus so much attention on.
“First, against Roma he has been left out because, with the return of Pirlo, I needed a more tactical player, Marchisio,” Allegri has looked to explain today to the Corriere della Sera.
“Every now and then the guys do something stupid. They need to understand when they afford it and especially now, with mobile phones, photographers everywhere.
“Under the aspect of training and the intensity of Arturo, there is nothing to say. There is no case with Vidal.”
Allegri, who also complained of a negative approach from Italians to their football, also considered his philosophy at Juve.
“The idea is to have good players that can allow you to win games. I do not like to provide many points of reference nor remove the creativity of the players.
“And on this there should be a broader discourse, talking about the youth sector.
“You cannot hold kids to two hours on a 4-4-2, 4-3-3, 3-5-2, as they will lose the passion. The Coaches should not teach, they should train themselves.
“Who has impressed me the most? Marchisio.”
The team are facing a shortage of players in defence, with Andrea Barzagli and Martin Caceres out for a month each with injury.
“Ogbonna has done very well. We will recover Marrone, and on the edge Lichtsteiner can be a third. Or we can play with four at the back.”
It was put to Allegri that in spite of being only six weeks into the season, the title race is already just between the Old Lady and Roma.
“Milan have only lost to us, Inter I did not expect to be in difficulty, but they are a very good team and will come out in the long run, as will Napoli and Fiorentina.
“It is not yet nor will it be just Juve-Roma. There needs to be balance. We lost in Madrid, and if the same had happened against Roma, what would have happened? The value of the team is not lost in a week.
“Juve in Europe? Let’s talk at the end. If in Madrid it had ended 0-0 we would be talking about great personality.
“We played the right game, conceding on the only error. Certainly we have room for improvement.”
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People losing it in here.
great words