Massimiliano Allegri opened up about the difficulties encountered by Juventus stars Federico Chiesa and Paul Pogba this season.
The Italian winger, who played a leading role in the Azzurri’s Euro 2020 success, suffered a cruciate ligament rupture in a match against Roma in January 2022, an injury that forced him to the sidelines for 10 months. He has since returned, showing flashes of his brilliance as he works back to full fitness.
Pogba returned to Juventus on a free transfer last summer, penning a lucrative four-year contract with the club, but was immediately forced out of action after suffering a knee injury during the pre-season tour in the US, an issue that required surgical intervention. The injury has limited the Frenchman to just 75 minutes of play this season.
Speaking in a press conference, Allegri discussed the state of his Juventus squad and explained the difficulties faced by Chiesa and Pogba this season.
“Everyone is fine, it’s not a question of who is playing. Everything is normal. Federico is an extraordinary player, he flies and can solve the game. But he comes from 10 months of inactivity. Regaining that physical and mental balance is not easy.
“The performances he is doing are within the norm. Pogba has been idle for a year. And he’s not in the best condition to play a game. I would like to have back the Pogba of when I first coached him, but that’s not the case at the moment.
“Usually, the longer someone is out, the longer it takes to recover. There are studies. Everything is normal. The luck that was… in the misfortune of not having top players like Pogba and Chiesa, or also Vlahovic who is coming from a major groin issue and it’s not that now he has become poor, to return to his levels he will need time.
“But there was luck, thanks to the work done in the ten years with the youth sector done by Juve and the second team, in having Fagioli, Miretti, Soulé, Iling. Who have played so many games. Miretti is a teenager. He played more than 40 games for Juventus. Fagioli played 25-30 in Cremonese, winning the league and is talented, he played 30 games.
“It’s not easy to play 30 games at Juventus or 40. Even the good ones… Once, with Buffon, he told me: I arrived in my first year at Juve and I didn’t understand anything, in my second year I didn’t realise. Juve are a unique thing, there are the pressures, the stuff…. There are times of growth.
“I understand that you want everything right away. But you need patience, planning. And from the negative things, like Pogba at 100% and Chiesa who I knew would come back like that, we found assets for the club. For the club, also economically, it is very important.
“We must continue and move forward, not losing sight of the goal. Now is the most difficult moment, it’s now. Not the least fifteen. It is now. I’m not just talking about the team, but about everything.
“The club has to be a one-two punch, we have 35 days which are the most important of the season, as always, unless we are out of everything. We are within two goals, and we have to be a granite block. I’m talking 360 degrees.”