Juventus fans all around the globe breathed a sigh of relief after hearing the news of Massimiliano Allegri’s return to Juventus.

After the underwhelming experiments of Maurizio Sarri and Andrea Pirlo, the appointment of a proven winner was a welcomed sight.

As we mentioned in a previous opinion piece, Max is indeed the right man for Turin’s hotseat due to his tactical flexibility as well as the simplicity within his approach.

Moreover, some observers would argue that the Livorno native would have been able to win the Scudetto with the squad that was at Pirlo’s disposal.

Whilst such a debate remains fruitful – as well as impossible to determine – but one can bet that the former Cagliari and Milan coach would have been able to gather some extra points in comparison with the rookie tactician.

Nevertheless, Allegri’s objective had never been gathering a large amount of points, but rather gaining more points that everyone else in the league, and he managed to succeed in this mission in each of his five seasons with the Bianconeri.

But whilst the tactician presented an exciting and vibrant side during his earlier seasons – mostly until 2017 – the team lost some of its momentum by the end of his tenure.

But why exactly?

Whilst the squad always remained rich with solid defenders, and the attack kept improving with some world class signings (Paulo Dybala, Gonzalo Higuain, Cristiano Ronaldo…) the midfield’s quality went south.

During his first season at the club, the Italian boss was able to rely on the brilliance of Arturo Vidal, Andrea Pirlo, Claudio Marchisio and Paul Pogba.

However, none of them remained until Allegri’s final years, as he had to field the not-too-spectacular trio of Sami Khedira, Miralem Pjanic and Blaise Matuidi, with at least two of them being on their final legs.

This weakening department was arguably the manager’s undoing, as the criticizing voices began to grow louder in the media as well as within the club itself.

Thus, the 53-year-old ended up paying the price for the management’s failure in recruiting more quality players in the middle of the pitch.

Although this is considered to be water under the bridge at the moment, the club must ensure that such scenario doesn’t replicate itself.

Unfortunately for Juventus, the current state of the midfield has probably never been worse in the last ten years.

While we are all interested to see how the likes of Arthur and Weston McKennie will perform under the returning coach, reinforcements are a must.

Manuel Locatelli would be a start in the right direction, but that might not be enough, as the squad still lacks an enigmatic star in the middle – someone like Rodrigo De Paul, Houssem Aouar, or even a returning Pogba.

So whilst we’re all excited to see Allegri sitting on the black and white bench once again, it wouldn’t be a merry return unless some of the mistakes from the past are rectified this time around.