Max Allegri outlines how the new Juventus trident can improve after the hard-fought win over Fiorentina and the difficulty of motivating a team that earned 44 points and has only 29 in the table.
It was a tense game and, as Allegri is so fond of saying, Juve won it by a nose, because Adrien Rabiot’s header was inches over the line, just as Dusan Vlahovic and Luca Ranieri were inches offside on the disallowed goals.
That would’ve been Vlahovic’s first goal against his former teammates since leaving Fiorentina and he made it very clear that he did not wish to celebrate.
“Fiorentina were pouring forward to seek an equaliser, we had chances to go 2-0 up and didn’t take them, then you need to be very focused and careful when it gets a bit chaotic late on,” Allegri told DAZN.
“It was a hard-fought game, two goals were disallowed for tight offsides, and I can only thank the lads, because it is hard to set targets at this moment in time. Our target now is to climb back up the table and I see a good spirit from the lads.”
This was the first time that Allegri had launched Angel Di Maria, Vlahovic and Federico Chiesa from the start in a trident attack.
“We created chances, had some good passing moves at pace, opportunities with Filip Kostic as well. It is never easy to play against Fiorentina, as they are very aggressive and play good football, but we did well.”
Chiesa and Di Maria both tended to lean towards the right when playing behind Vlahovic, so could that be an issue?
“Federico started on the left, but with Amrabat chasing Di Maria, that could open up spaces for us and I put Chiesa there to attack Biraghi in one-on-one situations. Federico prefers to go down the left, but he is improving in his defensive work, Di Maria sacrificed himself for the team today as well.
“At Milan we played with four attacking players, four at Cagliari too, when I started at Juventus we didn’t even have full-backs, so there are different ways of doing things, as long as there is balance. Not all moments during a season are the same, there are times when we can handle these situations and others when we cannot, it’s up to me to see when those moments are.”
Without the 15-point penalty, Juventus would currently be in second place on 44 points, although they have lodged an appeal and are waiting for that response.
“After the verdict, which came after our defeat to Napoli, there was a strong reaction against Atalanta, but then it hit us with the second wave against Monza.
“We have to take it one game at a time and now we are within a point of seventh place. However, it is important to not mistake the points we have with the points we earned. Those are different, as otherwise we’ll diminish what these lads achieved.
“It is a new experience, it is interesting to go through and we’re sticking together.”
While Champions League qualification would usually be the absolute minimum for the Bianconeri, this is not a normal campaign and so Allegri was asked if it was difficult to set targets in the circumstances.
“The Europa League and the Coppa Italia are objectives, along with climbing back up the standings. We can only wait and see where we are at the end of the season.”
Allegri was absolutely furious at one point in the final minutes, screaming at someone in the stands to ‘shut up’ and ‘come down here and say that.’ What sparked his angry response?
“I am disappointed, because most of the crowd is helping the team, then there are a few who decide a player is poor regardless of performance and jeers, like Moise Kean, De Sciglio and at times Paredes too.
“They are Juventus players, we need all of them. I don’t like people coming to the stadium ready to jeer at one or another player, that is disrespectful. By all means jeer when we do badly, but not ahead of time.”