Max Allegri spoke candidly about the Champions League Final as well as confirming that Douglas Costa is a target for Juventus this summer.
The Juve boss gave a lengthy interview to Sky and recapped the previous season, revealing he considered leaving the club.
“Everyone was wondering if I’d walk away if we won, and instead I was on the verge of doing it after the defeat,” he told Sky.
“I had to think and above all to see what was inside me, to start again in the best way because this year will be a much harder year.
“After three seasons with Scudetti, Coppe Italia, Champions League finals and Supercoppe it’s normal to look inside because at the limit there’s the risk of collapse.
“Instead I decided quickly after, I spoke to the club and all the conditions are there to have a great season. It will be a challenge within a challenge, a challenge within ourselves where we have to improve the quality of our game.
“I never talked to anyone else, and I never made commitments to anyone, because the first club to have known everything was always going to be Juventus.
“I was immersed in our objectives and I was never interested in the future, I decided after the final.
“The main objective is the one which is in the DNA of Juventus, that is to say the Scudetto. After that come the Coppa Italia and the Champions League.
“I’d say that in the last three years Juventus have established ourselves well among the top eight teams, and it [the Champions League] is an objective Juventus must pursue.
“Then in the Champions League you’ve seen that one year you can make the quarter-final, just as you can reach the semi-final or the final.
“The objective of getting there this year will be much more difficult though, because there are the five English teams, namely Chelsea, Tottenham, Manchester City, [Manchester] United and Liverpool.
“They’ll be aggressive competitors so we’ll have to be ready.”
“The Final ?The first half was a half which was really well played.
“I’d say that we had more shots on goal. Then in the second half they dominated us, they were better and they deservedly won the final.
“That’s what we have to restart from without any drama, without going through the big disappointments and depression that I’ve felt over the last 12 games.
“I understand the bitterness of not having won the final, having lost the second in three years, but you have to see the glass as half-full.
“We won another Scudetto, the sixth in a row, and that’s legendary. We’ve won three Coppe Italia in a row and we’ve been in two Champions League finals.
“Playing a second half like that lost us the final, but it doesn’t negate an extraordinary year where Roma and Napoli both got record points totals in their histories.”
Allegri turned his attention to the new formation and underlined the need to continue with the 4-2-3-1 formation.
“We need to try and give continuity to this system of play we started four months ago.
“So we’ll see which players to take. Then there are some players we could take and it’s not said that we can change.
“I’d say at the moment, in terms of numbers, the squad is complete apart from up-front.
“You have to think about those who will leave and be replaced though, but this club is so good that they’ll consider it in the best way.
“At the moment we’ve brought home important results in Italy and in Europe. Unfortunately we didn’t take home trophies but we’ll try to do it in the coming years.
“I think Juventus will have the squad this year to play another great Champions League.
“2017/18? This year everyone will want to beat us, and we’ll need to have great motivation to ensure we aren’t beaten.
“Inter already had a very competitive squad last season, and this year they’ve changed Coach. [Luciano] Spalletti already showed how good a Coach he is at Roma, and he’ll be an added value for Inter.
“I think Juventus and Napoli are a bit ahead of the others, but I’d say that Inter will re-enter the fight for the Scudetto, just like Milan who are doing great things.
“Roma will surely confirm the squad they had last year, so they’ll more or less be aiming for what they were last year.”
Allegri was asked about Gigi Buffon who confirmed that this could be his final season in black and white.
“Gigi is a very good and intelligent lad and he’ll definitely have a great future,” Allegri said.
“He just has to decide what he wants to do. The important thing is that he plays as a goalkeeper in the best way, as he’s always done so far.
“He’s still the best in the world and he’ll prove it again this year, because he’s going into his last World Cup and he’ll need to prepare in the best way.
“To prepare in the best way, he’ll have to do it for Juventus.”
“I think this year the challenge will be to improve the quality of the football and consequently have more control of the game, of big teams and important matches,” said Allegri.
Allegri was asked about Douglas Costa after Juve met with agent in Italy.
“He is one of our objectives and he is very talented.
“Bernardeschi? He is a young player of great potential for the Nazionale. De Sciglio? No, we are sorted in defence.”
Allegri was asked if he personall requested Steven N’Zonzi from Sevilla?
“I don’t make requests. I speak to the club and there are players who might be on the market who we seek out if they can improve the squad. But these are absolutely not requests, because not all players can come to Juventus.
“Patrik Schick isn’t a Juventus player yet, so we shouldn’t talk about him, but he is a player who doesn’t do normal things.”
I thought for sure that DeSciglio was gonna join us in the summer. Allegris comment doesn’t mean that he isn’t. I was just a bit shocked that he would say something like that in public.
Allegri also says that the only place we need to strengthen the squad is up front. We’ll apart from that I wouldn’t mind Asamoah and Lichtensteiner leaving so that younger lads could fill in for Alves and Alex Sandro.
Also, as many of you have mentioned. We need a solid DM if we are going to stick with this new formation. Does anyone know if N’Zonzi is up for the task?
In my eyes, N’Zonzi is the perfect partner for Pjanic in 4-2-3-1. He’s great at reading the game, he provides a physical presence in the midfield, and he’s great tactically and defensively. He’s also good at carrying the ball from deep. And he’s great at distributing the ball, as he averaged around 75 passes per game (more than Kroos) in La liga last season, with 90% pass accuracy. He was arguably the best midfielder in La liga last season with Casimero. The only problem is his age, but if he was 2-3 years younger he’d be perfect. But if we can pay like 35m for him, or 25+Lemina he’d be a solid signing.
He sounds promising, and thus far I haven’t heard anything negative about the lad. I hope we sign him or someone with similar qualities. It is important that we sign someone that can go straight into the starting eleven. At this point we don’t need a promising young lad who needs to go through Allegris transition period, so that he can play 30 minutes in the 2018/2019 season.