Allegri: 'You're ruining the game!'
Football Italia
Juventus boss Max Allegri had a very fiery interview with Sky Sport Italia after the 3-2 win over Inter. “Football isn’t just about tactics, you’re ruining the game.”
The Bianconeri were in front through Douglas Costa, then Matias Vecino saw red after 17 minutes, yet the 10 men turned it around through Mauro Icardi and an Andrea Barzagli own goal.
With two goals at the 87th and 89th minute, Juan Cuadrado and Gonzalo Higuain secured a 3-2 thriller for Juve.
“I think football was the winner, as we saw two teams battle it out to the end in front of a marvellous crowd,” said Allegri.
“Winning was important, we’ve taken another small step towards the Scudetto and need to win another three. Inter lost intensity towards the end and that was only natural in the circumstances.
“It was decisive today, because if we didn’t win, Napoli would’ve overtaken us with a victory in Florence. You never know what can happen in the final rounds.”
Allegri took some big risks with his tactics, using Juan Cuadrado as a right-back and dropping Paulo Dybala.
“I thought about it last Sunday. He did well and scored the goal. He got a couple of diagonal runs wrong, but we need to work on it.”
The Coach was sent off during the celebrations for the winning goal, as he ran on to the field to push and shake his players.
“They were all celebrating, there was still a while to go and we had to be concentrated. I didn’t want a repeat of Napoli and Real Madrid…”
The interview took a turn for the worse when he was asked if Juve should be dominating a game like this against 10 men after they drew with Crotone and lost to Napoli.
“We should’ve done more, undoubtedly. We can’t sit back and try to control a game, because then we fall asleep. Bringing home victories at this stage of the season is tough.
“At this moment, we are lacking sharpness. We should’ve found Mario Mandzukic and Douglas Costa between the lines, but when we went forward, we didn’t change gear.
“Last week was one of the worst games of the season, not just for us, but for Napoli too. Don’t tell me they played well, otherwise I may as well go…
“We played badly last week and against Crotone, but it’s not easy to win all the time. In 21 games we won 18, drew two and lost only one. Otherwise you expect us to get 170 points per season.
“How many campaigns have you seen? I’ve watched at least 40 and you cannot win every game. There are moments of the season and they must be understood.
“Football is becoming too much about theory and tactics, you’re ruining the game.”
When Allegri was asked why Juve were coasting along on the skills of individuals rather than having a coherent game plan, he really lost his temper.
“Do you watch basketball? A move lasts 24 seconds, you have the ball and have three seconds, so who do you give it to? The most talented player.
“You think that in football, made up of tackles, running and accurate passing, that systems win? So let’s pay for tactics and say Leo Messi is worthless! Same for Cristiano Ronaldo and Higuain.
“You don’t look at players or skills, but only systems, that is what’s damaging Italian football! A good defensive organisation does matter, but champions and their skills must be praised.
“But no, you go ahead and keep talking about tactics and don’t watch champions play. Yeah, well done.”
At one stage, Allegri was shouting so loudly that he was drowning out Inter Coach Luciano Spalletti, who was talking to Mediaset Premium down the corridor.
Spalletti, who like Allegri is from Tuscany, then shouted in Tuscan dialect that he should pipe down.
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We had every attacker we own on the field, even one at fullback. We were in absolute shambles protecting a 1 goal lead for 5 minutes against 10 men. Where is this bus? We just have bad players who can't break the opponent.
