Allegri critiques Kenan Yildiz after Juventus draw

Max Allegri tells off Kenan Yildiz for making the wrong choice, but insists Juventus remain ‘on track’ for their objectives after a 0-0 draw with Torino.

The Bianconeri confirmed their rediscovered defensive solidity, but were wasteful in attack, especially with Dusan Vlahovic firing one chance onto the upright from point-blank range and seeing another saved by Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, while Kenan Yildiz forced a one-handed save.

The Granata also had opportunities late on, with a Wojciech Szczesny save on Antonio Sanabria and in stoppages Valentino Lazaro’s header over.

“It was a good game, we had chances to score and I think we had the best opportunity in the second half, as Kenan Yildiz had that shot where he went for goal, but Vlahovic was unmarked at the back post, if he had passed it then it was an open goal,” Allegri told DAZN.

“The team overall played well against a good Torino. If you have three or four chances in the first half and don’t take them, especially against a Torino side that has the fourth best defensive record in Serie A, then it becomes difficult to create 10 or 12 chances per game.

“We kept another clean sheet and continue our positive streak.”

There is a recurring issue with Juve, as they only seem capable of really turning it on for one half of football, either fading away after the break to sit deeper and deeper, or starting badly and then waking up at half-time.

“I think we could’ve done better, but Vlahovic, Chiesa and then Moise Kean should’ve attacked the space, to get behind their defenders and cause them problems.

“There was a Kostic chance when he stole it back and in those situations, you need to go for goal rather than pass it, because Torino are a team who go man to man.

“In the end, we ran a risk on the header when Iling let the player jump over him, but otherwise we didn’t run many risks at the back.”

Federico Chiesa and Vlahovic both looked downhearted when substituted.

“Vlahovic had a negative evening, but if you look at the Yildiz chance, a pass there would’ve been easier than the time he hit the post.”

The midfield seemed a little short of energy as the game wore on, an area where Allegri tends not to rotate.

“Rabiot and McKennie have great engines, but they had to play a lot with others missing and I feel they will have a good end to the season. We have other alternatives in midfield, so we must be calm, take it one step at a time and reach our objective.”

John Elkann, the chief of the Agnelli family and Juve’s parent company Exxor, wrote to shareholders this week that it was ‘Year Zero’ for Juventus. So does Allegri see himself in their Year One?

“As I said yesterday, the words of the patron confirm the good work that was done over the last three years. I’ve said many times, we have not yet achieved our objectives. This important on a football level for us and on a financial level for the club.

“The new directors told us to make it an economically sustainable project, to help the players grow from the NextGen team and we did that. Then the club will make its evaluations on the market.”