Massimiliano Allegri (185 Viewers)

[Strickland]

It has to be said. 13 matches undefeated with this team is an achievement by itself.
Max has to get the next 3/3 in the league by hook or by crook and we can probably start thinking that the league is a possibility.

This team badly needs 2 starting fullbacks a competent CB, a midfielder and a better striker to partner DV7, for the next season.

we've gone 9 games unbeaten since the SuperCoppa loss against Inter not 13, but you're right, its a decent result. not the one we hoped for to restart our Scudetto ambitions, you can't win the league if you drop points every 2nd game, but at least we're in an ok position to finish 4th.

 

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[CrimsonianKing]

I was looking at some highlights from Barca’s last few matches, obviously they don’t have the abundance in world class talent as they did a few years back but they already look like they’re folllowing a system, a team with identity.

Whether that will lead to trophies that’s another history but then I look at us the last 4 seasons and no manager has been able to implement anything that resembles a proper system. Surely the guy at the helm has to be at fault for something like this never coming to fruition.

I don’t like blaming coaches for the simple reason I don’t think they can do much if players won’t cooperate but surely we must be doing something very wrong.

 

[Dominic]

But isnt this allegris identity? Kill the game, with or without possesion. In this case the latter. Allegri likes to soak up the pressure, give the other team the illusion of control. Its what we are still trying to accomplish, but the the problem is in the execution.

 

[juve123]

But isnt this allegris identity? Kill the game, with or without possesion. In this case the latter. Allegri likes to soak up the pressure, give the other team the illusion of control. Its what we are still trying to accomplish, but the the problem is in the execution.

If only we become a better counter attacking team as we are not as defensively strong as we used to be starting from a shaky goalkeeper.

 

[CrimsonianKing]

But isnt this allegris identity? Kill the game, with or without possesion. In this case the latter. Allegri likes to soak up the pressure, give the other team the illusion of control. Its what we are still trying to accomplish, but the the problem is in the execution.

That illusion has turned to reality long ago, bro. As @MikeM said it we used to scare opponents into their own half, it was the case when we faced most teams in Serie A. And even when we let them have the ball we didn’t allow them to do much. That control is gone.

Either way I was talking more in general. Sarri had a system but failed to apply it here, Pirlo supposedly had one too and I remember being discontent with the way we played on Max’s last season. Whatever the ideology is we can’t seem to make it function properly.

One has to wonder who’s to blame or should we split the blame? Lack of leadership and motivation? Injuries play a big part of course but how can an inexperienced coach like Xavi not only fix a team that was in shambles but do it without the Mbampes of the world?

 

[s4tch]

...how can an inexperienced coach like Xavi not only fix a team that was in shambles but do it without the Mbampes of the world?

xavi isn't that inexperienced, especially not at barcelona. he grew up there, he knows what the club is all about, he feels at home and he knows how a winning squad should look like, not only on the pitch, but outside of it too. also, i wish we had ANYONE at pedri's or frenkie's level. those guys are very good players, and so are ferrán torres, gavi, dembele (on his day), araujo, etc. oldies like jordi alba were reborn, and they also strenghtened the squad with dani alves (invaluable experience, feels home, important figure in the locker), aubameyang, adama traoré, ferrán torres during the winter. it's not a miracle, it's one of the biggest clubs with a relatively strong squad and a strong winter mercato. xavi simply gave back barcelona their football identity, the one he grew up in, the one koeman took away.

as i wrote earlier today, sometimes i want max to be sacked and replaced with any flavor of the month tuz darling coach like tudor. (nothing against tudor, i like him a lot and i wish he coaches us in the future.) then some of us would probably understand finally that this squad isn't build for the energetic, eye-pleasing, high pressing, possession based, quick, modern game you've been requesting for years. if the sarri experiment wasn't enough proof and tuz needs a 4th coach for that realization, then i'm all in, let's keep tuz happy. just sack max and see who can do it better with a squad that includes 4-5 players at supposed juve starting 11 level, with a squad that has not more than 2 players that would have started for the same club in '17.

OOOR maybe, just maybe, we shouldn't expect too much from a squad that relies heavily on constantly injured players, zero available leaders for the majority of the current campaign (i'm fucking mad at cr for leaving too late, imagine if we had vlahovic for the whole season), zero reliable ball winners in midfield, 2 quick players tops in the starting 11 (morata, snacks, who else?), no natural regista, no wingers basically, ~20 squad players, at least ~10 overpaid mercenaries with zero motivation (vlahovic and locatelli are two of our best players, they freshly arrived from smaller clubs and have everything to prove, more news at 11), etc.

yeah, max isn't blameless for some of his stupid subs and honestly, i don't have a clue why he keeps playing rabiot. tuz didn't get why max played khedira either, we still kept winning the league lol. anyway, now our attacking plan is nonexistent, we keep playing like a small team, we can't dominate the weakest opponents, we look disinterested, and of course the coach is a very easy target. i get it, but for me, this is a post-2010 inda kinda situation. mourinho knew that he had to leave, cause the only way from there was down.

allegri said it many times that this squad is completely different to his last team. we can sack him for all i care. but i'm sure we'll be having the same conversation over and over again in some other coaches' thread. JUST. FIX. THE. SQUAD.

 

[Post Ironic]

we've gone 9 games unbeaten since the SuperCoppa loss against Inter not 13, but you're right, its a decent result. not the one we hoped for to restart our Scudetto ambitions, you can't win the league if you drop points every 2nd game, but at least we're in an ok position to finish 4th.

13 in the league. 8 wins - 5 draws. Last league loss was late November.

 

[Siamak]

+++ PRESS CONFERENCE FIORENTINA vs JUVENTUS +++

New idea for tomorrow due to the injured players? Let's see who will be there. There are 3/4 Young players that can play. Let's see who from the start and who not.

Tomorrow it's important to score because the away goal rule is still valid in Coppa Italia

Muscular injuries? I'm not worried at all. There are also a lot of injuries who are not linked to this. We played a lot of games.

Thursday Dybala and Bernardeschi will be back. Zak, hopefully we have him for the return game vs Villarreal.

Rugani is already feeling better. We will evaluate him.

Alex Sandro 10 more days. Chiellini still out.

The intelligence and culture of the Fiorentina supporters will be important. It should be considered a game of sport. It will be a football game. A beautiful game. The worrying and important things are not a football game, especially now with all what's happening around the world. That's what really matter. Not Vlahovic back at Firenze. Italiano is doing well and it should be considered a beautiful game.

De Sciglio will be back playing. Bonucci no. It's already 2 days that he's resting. He came back from injury forcing a bit. Now it's time to rest for him.

We have enough players and we can play them. Also we have Soulé, Aké, Miretti. Big opportunity for a lot of players to play.

Moise Kean played an important game vs Empoli. I'm happy. He scored. During the games he has always the opportunity to score.

I'll have to evaluate. One between him, Morata or Vlahovic will be on the bench.

For Vlahovic I need to evaluate.

About Miretti, we have some quality players in U23. Important project and was important to have a U23 team where the level is much higher than Primavera.
But we have to give them time to grow. Let's not put them pressure and let them believe they are already top players. They are already great. Let them become even better. One of them if not more will start tomorrow and some will enter during the game.

Fiorentina did not change that much in how they play, even if they lost Vlahovic. They keep a high tempo and we will need to keep up that tempo.

During a season there are always muscular injuries. We were unlucky to have traumatic injuries as well. We have to accept the situation. We analysed what we did and what we are doing and with the medical staff we are trying to recuperate as many players as possible. Then in April & May we hope to have everyone so we can compete for our objectives

Journalist:

Morata & Kean, you said that they couldn't play that well together. Can they now with Vlahovic?

Allegri:

The team is a bit more confident. Vlahovic has qualities that the other two don't have. The other two have qualities that Dusan doesn't have.
Vlahovic with Morata or Kean have a good partnership.
Then there are games where Vlahovic will rest and the other two will have to play together.
We can also play without striker.

Vlahovic is relaxed. He's 22. Of course there is a bit of emotion towards a team that grew him up and gave him the opportunity to reach high levels. But he's chill. Otherwise he will never play anymore vs Fiorentina. It doesn't make sense


Missing more Chiesa or Dybala?

Let's say it would have been better if I had all of them at my disposal. I could have changed, rotate, having players on the bench. Dybala was obliged to play 5 games in a row after injury because we had nobody else. We need everyone because that gives us the opportunity to rest physically but especially mentally.

Now until the 20th March we will have to do an extra effort to come back after the break and have the opportunity to fight for that top 4, Coppa Italia and maybe UCL if we win vs Villarreal

Vlahovic gave a serenity to the team. Because the team now know that we will find the goal.
But the team was already doing much better.

Buuuuut pay attention. Because we conceded 2 really stupid goals.
Vs Villarreal we were sleeping. Vs Torino the same. Vs Empoli 2 stupid goals. Hey... it's not because we score that we have to lose focus!
We could have concede vs Empoli on other plays but not when we conceded.

So from now until the end of the season, conceding few goals means entering Top 4.

+++ END PRESS CONFERENCE +++

Source: Siamak Guru & Grand GJustjuve

 

[Quetzalcoatl]

About Miretti, we have some quality players in U23. Important project and was important to have a U23 team where the level is much higher than Primavera.
But we have to give them time to grow. Let's not put them pressure and let them believe they are already top players. They are already great. Let them become even better. One of them if not more will start tomorrow and some will enter during the game.

 

[CrimsonianKing]

xavi isn't that inexperienced, especially not at barcelona. he grew up there, he knows what the club is all about, he feels at home and he knows how a winning squad should look like, not only on the pitch, but outside of it too. also, i wish we had ANYONE at pedri's or frenkie's level. those guys are very good players, and so are ferrán torres, gavi, dembele (on his day), araujo, etc. oldies like jordi alba were reborn, and they also strenghtened the squad with dani alves (invaluable experience, feels home, important figure in the locker), aubameyang, adama traoré, ferrán torres during the winter. it's not a miracle, it's one of the biggest clubs with a relatively strong squad and a strong winter mercato. xavi simply gave back barcelona their football identity, the one he grew up in, the one koeman took away.

as i wrote earlier today, sometimes i want max to be sacked and replaced with any flavor of the month tuz darling coach like tudor. (nothing against tudor, i like him a lot and i wish he coaches us in the future.) then some of us would probably understand finally that this squad isn't build for the energetic, eye-pleasing, high pressing, possession based, quick, modern game you've been requesting for years. if the sarri experiment wasn't enough proof and tuz needs a 4th coach for that realization, then i'm all in, let's keep tuz happy. just sack max and see who can do it better with a squad that includes 4-5 players at supposed juve starting 11 level, with a squad that has not more than 2 players that would have started for the same club in '17.

OOOR maybe, just maybe, we shouldn't expect too much from a squad that relies heavily on constantly injured players, zero available leaders for the majority of the current campaign (i'm fucking mad at cr for leaving too late, imagine if we had vlahovic for the whole season), zero reliable ball winners in midfield, 2 quick players tops in the starting 11 (morata, snacks, who else?), no natural regista, no wingers basically, ~20 squad players, at least ~10 overpaid mercenaries with zero motivation (vlahovic and locatelli are two of our best players, they freshly arrived from smaller clubs and have everything to prove, more news at 11), etc.

yeah, max isn't blameless for some of his stupid subs and honestly, i don't have a clue why he keeps playing rabiot. tuz didn't get why max played khedira either, we still kept winning the league lol. anyway, now our attacking plan is nonexistent, we keep playing like a small team, we can't dominate the weakest opponents, we look disinterested, and of course the coach is a very easy target. i get it, but for me, this is a post-2010 inda kinda situation. mourinho knew that he had to leave, cause the only way from there was down.

allegri said it many times that this squad is completely different to his last team. we can sack him for all i care. but i'm sure we'll be having the same conversation over and over again in some other coaches' thread. JUST. FIX. THE. SQUAD.

But I’m not disagreeing with that. If Allegri alone was the problem we’d have been ok with Sarri or Pirlo. Were we? No, we got rid of them after just one season. So firing his ass isn’t the end all solution and I too don’t believe it would fix the constant issues we had for at least 4 years now.

Having said that there’s always the possibility he’s not capable of doing better with the squad he’s got available now.

On the other hand I disagree with most of the Barca part. History shows us most players actually don’t live up to expectations when going from player to manage their former clubs. It’s the exception. Just because he was taught their ideology doesn’t mean he can successfully implement it. It requires completely different set of skills and traits. And it’s definitely not easy as you’re making it sound.

Moreover we had arguably the most important lock room figures in Buffon and Ronaldo. It can help but how much we can only assume. Also let’s not forget they just went from having one of the best midfields in the history of football and the best player of his generation to a bunch of kids. Talented or not this is nowhere near the bar they raised with those guys a few years back. I like how balanced their squad seems to be now though.

My original post was really a question, what is it that stop us from having an identity when clearly changing coaches haven’t solved anything. If it’s the squad is it just lack of talent, the never-ending midfield issue, no motivation or a combination of it all?

 

[MikeM]

That illusion has turned to reality long ago, bro. As @MikeM said it we used to scare opponents into their own half, it was the case when we faced most teams in Serie A. And even when we let them have the ball we didn’t allow them to do much. That control is gone.

Either way I was talking more in general. Sarri had a system but failed to apply it here, Pirlo supposedly had one too and I remember being discontent with the way we played on Max’s last season. Whatever the ideology is we can’t seem to make it function properly.

One has to wonder who’s to blame or should we split the blame? Lack of leadership and motivation? Injuries play a big part of course but how can an inexperienced coach like Xavi not only fix a team that was in shambles but do it without the Mbampes of the world?

Indeed, I find our biggest problem is that we can't play out when we win the ball back. In years past, we just walked it out because the minnows retreated to park the bus. If anyone can refute this, I'm all ears.

Even Empoli was unafraid. They had 3 or 4 players up pressing our goal kicks.

I will also add that if a coach takes the salary of a world class player and makes NO difference, then is he worth the salary? Might as well put it into the squad.

 

[CrimsonianKing]

Indeed, I find our biggest problem is that we can't play out when we win the ball back. In years past, we just walked it out because the minnows retreated to park the bus. If anyone can refute this, I'm all ears.

Even Empoli was unafraid. They had 3 or 4 players up pressing our goal kicks.

I will also add that if a coach takes the salary of a world class player and makes NO difference, then is he worth the salary? Might as well put it into the squad.

Another point I forgot to add was that if our squad is really that bad then surely the mid/bottom table clubs’ got to be a level below. Should they be performing better than us? Im not talking about their position on the table but the way they perform against us specifically.

 

[s4tch]

...On the other hand I disagree with most of the Barca part. History shows us most players actually don’t live up to expectations when going from player to manage their former clubs. It’s the exception. Just because he was taught their ideology doesn’t mean he can successfully implement it. It requires completely different set of skills and traits. And it’s definitely not easy as you’re making it sound...

...My original post was really a question, what is it that stop us from having an identity when clearly changing coaches haven’t solved anything. If it’s the squad is it just lack of talent, the never-ending midfield issue, no motivation or a combination of it all?

sorry if i made it sound easy, it wasn't my intention. xavi actually has 2 years of top flight experience and won a league as a coach. he's not a rookie like pirlo was.

as for your question, we do lack leadership in the locker. vlahovic and de ligt (if he decides to stay) are a good start to create a strong backbone with leadership skills. if anyone in our squad remains indifferent and passive after seeing vlahovic clinching his fist and celebrating after winning a foul vs empoli then they should immediately get the boot. we also lack experienced winners who aren't too old. we also lack loyal players, passers, wingers, and a mid who can reliably win balls. while our players aren't too bad examined in a vacuum, it's a terribly unbalanced squad.

 

[MikeM]

Another point I forgot to add was that if our squad is really that bad then surely the mid/bottom table clubs’ got to be a level below. Should they be performing better than us? Im not talking about their position on the table but the way they perform against us specifically.

The biggest lie on this forum is that our squad is bad.

Just take Chiesa as a specific example. Lights the Euros on fire with Mancini. Comes here one week later, suddenly he sucks? So let's ignore that he's playing with his back to goal as a SS and collecting the ball at his 18 yard box? Like, people see how drastically different these scenarios are and SURELY they influence the player, right?

 

[campionesidd]

The biggest lie on this forum is that our squad is bad.

Just take Chiesa as a specific example. Lights the Euros on fire with Mancini. Comes here one week later, suddenly he sucks? So let's ignore that he's playing with his back to goal as a SS and collecting the ball at his 18 yard box? Like, people see how drastically different these scenarios are and SURELY they influence the player, right?

Chiesa didn’t suck this season. He didnt get any rest since he joined us, which inevitably contributed to his injury.

 

[MikeM]

Chiesa didn’t suck this season. He didnt get any rest since he joined us, which inevitably contributed to his injury.

Chiesa operated at 0.31 G + A per 90 before his inury. Which is half the amount he produced with Pirlo and Fiorentina. Always between 0.58 and 0.75 per 90. This is a player that Bayern was godfather offering for.

You watch him with Allegri. He is either in a 4 man midfield, collecting the ball in his 18 and trying to run double the length that he would run in previous years, to score. Or he was a SS with back to goal, and failed miserably.

And people watch these matches and ACTUALLY wonder why his form dropped. They actually cannot understand how it happened. It's madness.

Everyone on a big team played in the Euros. None of them had rest. The drop in form for a player is dependent on how he's deployed. Just like the shine has wore off Locatelli. He chases the ball for 90 minutes and NEVER gets on the ball in the opponent's half.

 

[s4tch]

Chiesa didn’t suck this season. He didnt get any rest since he joined us, which inevitably contributed to his injury.

he also returned with a minor injury from the nt (injured and subbed in the final iirc), wasn't even fully fit for the start of the season, and had like 4-5 minor stops before his season ending big one. he still had a few good games when he was fit. his season in a nutshell: bad luck, zero continuity.

tuz: allegri ruined him.

 

[Boksic]

The biggest lie on this forum is that our squad is bad.

Just take Chiesa as a specific example. Lights the Euros on fire with Mancini. Comes here one week later, suddenly he sucks? So let's ignore that he's playing with his back to goal as a SS and collecting the ball at his 18 yard box? Like, people see how drastically different these scenarios are and SURELY they influence the player, right?

Chiesa picked up an injury at the end of the Euros and didn't have a proper preseason. He then struggled with fitness issues all season until his knee injury. The Chiesa we had available this season was not the same one who starred at the Euros. A proper break and preseason and he'd have been fine.

 

[MikeM]

he also returned with a minor injury from the nt (injured and subbed in the final iirc), wasn't even fully fit for the start of the season, and had like 4-5 minor stops before his season ending big one. he still had a few good games when he was fit. his season in a nutshell: bad luck, zero continuity.

tuz: allegri ruined him.

Allegri was ruining him, yes. If you take a player made for a certain position, and you take it away, that is ruining him, yes.

I'll admit I never thought Chiesa could be that impactful as a pure attacking winger, but clearly he became that. He cannot play so deep or with his back to goal, it's clearly a waste.

 

[juve123]

What is happening at tuz? False propaganda machinery being quickly spread by the plastic fans so that Allegri being blamed for the all problems of the club.Chiesa didn't even start the initial games for Italy until he scored against Austria and it is sickening that a player who has been injured for the most of the season his stats are being used to prove a point.