Following yet another 1-0 win against a lowly opponent, a section of observers once again lambasted Juve’s uninspiring performance.
From Antonio Cassano to Gab Marcotti, the usual Max Allegri detractors weren’t going to miss such opportunity as the Bianconeri barely edged past Spezia thanks a lone goal from Alvaro Morata.
During his earlier stint at the club, the Livorno native earned a reputation for being a mainly-cautious tactician. Even amidst the most dominant years of the Old Lady’s winning dynasty, there were times when the tactician was more than happy to collect three points on the back of 1-0 wins.
But is it fair to label him as a defensive-minded manager?
Well, perhaps this tag is slightly exaggerated. The former Milan and Cagliari boss is one of the most pragmatic men you’ll find in football. A manager who’s willing to over-simplify his role within the squad, and who prefers to maintain a low profile while some of his colleagues attempt to steal the limelight with some colorful antics.
Personally, after watching Juventus for almost three decades, the 2016/17 version remains the most progressive and entertaining Juventus side I’ve seen.
Back then, Paulo Dybala supported Gonzalo Higuain in 4-2-3-1 formation, with Mario Mandzukic and Juan Cuadrado on the wings, while Miralem Pjanic was pulling the strings in midfield and Dani Alves bombarding from the right. The wins against Barcelona and and Monaco were some of the most enjoyable performances seen on the European stage.
For one reason or another, that version was short-lived. Perhaps the management was hoping to restore it by appointing Maurizio Sarri in 2019, but the supposedly-progressive manager was never able to display his renowned free-flowing football in Turin.
To be fair, the former Napoli and Chelsea manager never had the right players who can interpret his specific style of football, and eventually, he ended up relying on Cristiano Ronaldo’s goals to pick up the wins, with Dybala playing the savior’s role on many occasions on the road towards an uninspiring Scudetto triumph.
Andrea Pirlo then faced a similar problem. In fact, he never truly had much hope of succeeding, especially with Dybala mostly injured and Pjanic already gone.
Therefore, Allegri is simply aware of the issue that haunted his two successors who ended up being his predecessors after failing to insert their attacking mindset into the club.
The current manager knows his squad too well. He can tell that with the present crop, Juventus cannot play attractive football nor create a load of goal-scoring opportunities in every match.
Dybala and Chiesa are the Bianconeri’s most creative players, and with both of them out, the situation become even more complicated.
So instead of trying to pull off an impossible task, Allegri is simply playing on the squad’s strong points, rebuilding the Old Lady’s impregnable wall. After all, the club’s success had always been built upon a strong backline.
That is exactly what Sarri and Pirlo never aspired to do during their short timelines.
As for Allegri, the end will always justify the means, and it remains to be seen if his pragmatic and realistic approach will eventually bear its fruits.
Very inaccurate analysis. Juve was lucky against Barcelona, and very cautious against Monaco, I saw the games, our hearts were literally in our mouths. Allegri is the cancer that ate up Juventus growth, he orchestrated the destruction of ALL of our young signings and others as well including Dybala, which meant we were NEVER going to have new players when the current squad ages, and the decline started even before he left. We haven’t had a standout player or players since Conte left, simply put, Allegri cannot build/develop or maintain a decent squad, our limitations are ALWAYS evident when we play bigger teams in Europe, even when Juve was “flying high”, we were ALWAYS inferior to the teams in Europe.
Let’s sack Allegri now or risk a repeat of the heartbreaks since he came in, heartbreaks further worsened because he plays the most conservative style of football I have ever seen, and consistently too, even against smaller teams. I know you guys are drunk on some Allegri whack juice, but please, don’t advertise it to us, we’re sick and tired of it already.
Akin, Allegri was great in CL especially compared to Conte, so your opinion is biased. Allegri is a special tactician that gets the job done, im sure he will land CL for us!!