Max Allegri reveals a new Paul Pogba injury worry after Juventus beat Empoli, explains his changes in personnel and approach, but insists ‘you cannot say we are Scudetto favourites.’
The Bianconeri had a point to prove after last week’s controversial 1-1 draw with Bologna, so Allegri made more changes to the starting XI.
They paid off, as Danilo fired in after a corner was not cleared effectively, then Federico Chiesa made it 2-0 late on with a sprint from his own half.
There could easily have been more too, because Danilo and Paul Pogba had goals disallowed, while Arkadiusz Milik and Moise Kean hit the woodwork.
However, there were concerns at the final whistle when Pogba seemed to be touching the back of his thigh.
“We don’t know anything yet, he felt a twinge at the back, so we’ll see what the tests say. He came on and showed quality for half an hour,” Allegri told Sky Sport Italia.
“It was a good performance against an Empoli side that is not easy to play against. We allowed practically nothing at the back, but need to be calmer in the final third or with the final ball, as we were a bit too frenetic. These are things we will improve as time goes on.”
The coach reshuffled his squad with several changes, including Filip Kostic and Weston McKennie in for Andrea Cambiaso and Timothy Weah.
“Weah was a little tired, while he was also coming into a far more tactical league than he is accustomed to, so I felt he needed a bit of rest. I also wanted to have someone who could come off the bench and change the game.
“Kostic played well, Filip is a solid player, even if he didn’t play in the first two games.”
Vlahovic and Chiesa are still trying to create a strike partnership, as they do not seem to combine very often on the field.
“Their rapport is growing, I am happy that Federico scored and sad that Vlahovic didn’t convert the penalty. However, I thought this was a better performance from Vlahovic than last time when he did score. We need everyone and must keep the tempo as high as possible to cause problems for the opposition.
“The midfielders and forwards are also working on getting to know each other better. When you play against a high defence like Empoli, you need to pick the right timing for the passes and make them precise.
“Locatelli did very well today. Miretti plays well between the lines, but must improve in passing the ball quickly and going for goal more often. We are working towards reaching full fitness from October and November so that we can start really pushing hard.”
Juventus lost 4-1 away to Empoli last season, as a few hours earlier it was announced they had been docked 10 Serie A points for financial irregularities, but despite not having any other commitments, Allegri insists they cannot be Scudetto contenders.
“Nobody likes being outside of the Champions League. We finished third in the table, so it’s easy to say that Juve failed last season, but without the points penalty we were third. There are teams out there better equipped to win the Scudetto, such as Inter, Napoli and Milan. We must do well to stay as close to them as possible and finish in the top four.
“Things might happen and we find ourselves in the Scudetto race, but you cannot say we are among the favourites.”
Allegri has often run into controversy when insisting that ‘football is a very simple game,’ something that new Italy coach Luciano Spalletti rejected vociferously.
“The intelligence of a coach is to understand the players at his disposal. You cannot try to use a gun against a tank, you need to find a different strategy,” said the Juve boss.
“This season we have players who don’t have as much experience, but they do have legs. As Ariedo Braida used to say, it is not an obligation to run in football, but it helps. I don’t want to say it’s very simple, because I know people don’t like that, but I will say the simplest things on paper are usually the most difficult.”
Not with you as a coach. No quality fast wingers and defensive football.