Juventus assistant manager Marco Landucci stood in for Max Allegri and insisted ‘the only way out of this situation is to work hard and do better’ after the defeat to Monza.
While Angel Di Maria’s red card for an elbow on Armando Izzo just before half-time inevitably affected the outcome, Monza were superior to Juventus in possession statistics, shots on target, shots in general, total passes, completed passes and tackles won.
Allegri was in the stands due to his touchline ban, so assistant manager Marco Landucci sat on the bench and spoke to the media.
“We need to do better, certainly. The red card affected the game, Angel was a bit harassed by Izzo, a player who we know uses these tactics, and he fell for it. I didn’t see the replay, I was told it was the right decision to send him off,” Landucci told DAZN
“We had a few chances to score in the second half, but this is the time where talking doesn’t achieve much, we need to get down to action.”
It was meant to be a reaction to the Champions League home defeat to Benfica and chaotic 2-2 draw with Salernitana, but instead Juve again showed a painful lack of ideas, identity or style of football.
“Perhaps the defeat to Benfica was more of a psychological blow than we realised, but again these are excuses and excuses are of no help. We just have to shut up and work hard.
“Obviously, nobody is happy right now, but in order to emerge from this situation we can only work hard and do better. We seem to start well and then stop playing, so the only method is to work and everyone raise their game to work in the same direction.
“Allegri is suspended and not allowed into the locker room, so I haven’t seen him yet.”
Juve had Arek Milik and Juan Cuadrado suspended, with Manuel Locatelli, Adrien Rabiot, Alex Sandro, Federico Chiesa, Paul Pogba and Kaio Jorge injured.
Allegri said this week that Juventus were currently only a ‘virtual team’ due to the big stars missing, so did that make the available players feel left out?
“No, it’s a great group, that’s never been an issue. Clearly, when four or five players are missing, that is felt, but again mustn’t be an excuse. We just need to do better, lift our heads and reply with action rather than words.
“These problems can be resolved and I am convinced we can do better. It looks all black right now, but we need to find the light at the end of the tunnel.”
At the final whistle, Leonardo Bonucci took the Juventus team to stand in front of the travelling fans and accept their jeers.
“It’s only normal that the fans will protest, because Juve certainly need to do better.”