“In short, don’t blame the players or Allegri. If anything it’s proof of how a top-level player can change your team.
“Look at other examples. When Roma had [Medhi] Benatia at the back, they hardly conceded a goal, now [Coach] Rudi Garcia is being criticised for the defending.
“[Antonio] Nocerino scored 11 goals playing with [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic [at Milan].
“Allegri is trying his best to get all of the best players on the pitch, but no-one is displaying the leadership that Tevez did.
“With him you win the kind of match we saw yesterday.”
- Tacchinardi
http://www.football-italia.net/74670/tacchinardi-‘don’t-blame-allegri’
I find this sort of comment interesting.
I don't disagree with Tacchinardi that Allegri/Juve can't be expected to have a ready-made replacement for Tevez and not suffer a bit without him for a while.
But, following the logic that you can't blame Allegri for struggling without Tevez, does that mean you shouldn't praise Allegri for succeeding with Tevez?
We all know the difference that great players make, but I don't think you can argue this both ways and praise Allegri last season and not criticise him to some extent this season.
Allegri is a solid coach who organises his defence and midfield well and lives or dies based on whether the club gives him talented forwards who can win a game with limited guidance - that was known from his time at Milan.
It happens all too often that people confuse a coach who has great forwards/players with a coach having a good attacking plan.