Max Allegri still focuses on where Juventus must improve after a 3-0 win away to Udinese, explaining what Federico Chiesa and Dusan Vlahovic can do better. ‘Chiesa can score 16 goals this season, playing him wide is reductive.’
The Bianconeri had the ideal start to their Serie A season, getting the job done within 45 minutes at the Dacia Arena thanks to Chiesa, a Vlahovic penalty and the Adrien Rabiot header from point-blank range.
Wojciech Szczesny kept the clean sheet with a couple of brave saves and taking advantage of some poor Udinese finishing.
“There are two areas where we need to improve,” Allegri told DAZN.
“In the second half, we needed to have more movement and controlling the ball, although admittedly it was very hot. The second is that when we make mistakes, we need to defend better in our own half. It’s one thing if you are leading 3-0, but otherwise you can make games more complicated than they need to be.”
There was an impressive combination down the left side between Andrea Cambiaso and Chiesa, as the wing-back also provided the cross for Rabiot’s header.
It was put to Allegri that Chiesa does not move like a striker and should be a winger, but he disagreed.
“I think Chiesa is a striker. I might be wrong, but in my view he is a forward. He gets too isolated playing wide, so he did well partnering Vlahovic. They are improving, but Chiesa again went a bit too wide. I think Chiesa can score 14-16 goals this season and playing him wide is a little reductive.
“Cambiaso is very intelligent and when you have a player like Chiesa who can roam around in all areas, Andrea knows when it is the moment to cover the space or find the gap. Without Chiesa, we need a more linear player at wing-back like Kostic.
“Timothy Weah needs time to adapt to Serie A, but I am happy with his performance, he just went off after a knock to the ankle.”
It was notable that when Cambiaso was replaced, it was by Samuel Iling Junior and not Filip Kostic.
“Because I had Iling too, they are in the same role. If Chiesa had come off earlier, I would’ve chosen Kostic, but Iling covers more ground.”
After a summer of reports Allegri wanted to swap him with Romelu Lukaku for Chelsea, Vlahovic looks particularly determined to prove himself at Juventus.
“Vlahovic had a good game, he was coming off a period where he didn’t play as much. When we get him moving quickly as soon as we win back the ball, that’s where he can flourish. The difference must be when we are controlling the ball, so knowing how to lose his marker and find the spaces. That’s the difficult stuff and we’re working on it with him.”
This was also an historic occasion, because Allegri reaches 250 victories on the Juventus bench in 380 overall matches, although he is still a long way off record-holder Giovanni Trapattoni with 319 wins in 596 games.
Juventus are excluded from UEFA competitions and eager to make up for last season’s damaging off the field issues that dominated their focus.
Despite all of that now being lifted from their shoulders, Allegri continues to maintain they are not in the running for the Scudetto, let alone among the favourites.
“Staying out of the Champions League is a big loss for this club after I think 12 years. We will miss it, I won’t deny that, because everyone says it is an advantage playing once a week, but we enjoy playing the best teams in Europe,” continued the coach.
“Despite a difficult year, the team finished third in Serie A and deserved to play in the Champions League. Things obviously are different this way and we will have more time to work individually with players as well as on the group movements.”
In his post-match interview, Chiesa commented on the ‘modern’ tactics that Juve were trying to employ, which were less defensive and more pro-active, though Allegri remains sceptical about this sort of talking point.
“We need to make the most of the characteristics of our players. That means a high press to support the strikers and there is lots to learn. We’ve had one win, let’s keep our feet on the ground and not think we’ve suddenly resolved everything. I don’t share that sort of debate. We need to be organised and cover the spaces, also when we press high.”