Massimiliano Allegri admitted ‘football is not an exact science’ as he works to turn around Juventus’ form in their upcoming Serie A clash with Genoa.
The Old Lady have only won one of their last seven consecutive league games, a run that’s seen them fall out of contention in the title race and drop behind Milan in the table. The run has pilled the pressure on Allegri, who has already been in the crosshairs of fans this term.
Despite the recent difficulties, Juventus are still in a strong spot ahead of next season, looking set to qualify for the Champions League and preparing to take part in the revamped Club World Cup, a tournament that’ll bring at least €50m in revenues.
Speaking in a press conference via TMW, Allegri first discussed the health of his Juventus squad.
“We have had a good week of work. We’re aware of the moment we’re going through. We worked well, yesterday we stayed in Continassa because we know the importance of the match.
“We lost Milik, who had a small problem, and we’ll evaluate him after the break. Perin, De Sciglio and Rabiot return.”
He touched on the team’s work to try and shake off their poor form.
“I spoke with the team and together we decided to stay at Continassa. We must resume the work that we missed this month. We know that we have objectives to achieve such as the Champions League and the semi-final of the Coppa Italia.”
The Bianconeri coach commented on the state of Filip Kostic.
“He can play tomorrow. In the last two games he didn’t play due to technical choices. Then Iling-Junior was doing well in training. They’re also choices to motivate the players.”
Allegri spoke about how the attack changes without Arkadiusz Milik.
“We have Kean, Chiesa, Vlahovic and Yildiz. Sorry for Milik, who in addition to the goal had put in a good performance. The update on Milik will be released today.”
He was asked if the Club World Cup was a reason to stay with the club for next season.
“I believe it’s the result of the work done by the club in recent years. I have a year left on my contract, I’m very calm. We are and must be focused on this year’s objectives.
“At the moment we’ve qualified for the Club World Cup, a wonderful adventure, because it’s a new competition with great teams and it’ll be nice.
“The objectives must be achieved, playing in the Champions League next year. To do this we need to get to May 25th.”
The Juventus coach discussed the importance of victory against Genoa.
“We need to try to get a win tomorrow. We’ve only won once to get back on the path that takes us to the end. Regarding last Sunday’s statement.
“It’s normal for the result to be like this, we would always like to get three points. Given the moment, the point was good, especially after a good performance. We need to analyse the mistakes made during the match.”
He spoke about how to improve the team’s defensive solidity.
“Paradoxically in the last few games we have conceded few chances, but we have conceded many goals. We must continue to improve and work, but above all pay more attention to the team and not to individual players.”
Allegri was asked if Adrien Rabiot was fit enough to play 90 minutes.
“He doesn’t have enough for 90 minutes because he has always trained separately, but having him available is already a good sign.”
He reflected on the team’s recent training retreat and their poor form.
“Football is not an exact science. There were matches where we never conceded goals. We need to stay more organized and be more compact when we don’t have the ball. When we are together, we have more time to do work and watch individual videos.”
The Juventus coach was asked what Kenan Yildiz is still missing.
“Absolutely nothing. In my opinion he was in decline a bit and Chiesa was in good shape. He is fine now and is a player who will have an important future, but he must be left to grow in peace and without responsibility.”
Finally, Allegri discussed the reason why Juventus entered a training retreat.
“It was something I decided on Tuesday and then I spoke with the team. Nothing more.”
Read more about Allegri
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‘He can’t say that’ – Juventus legend slams Allegri after post-match interview
Allegri snaps at Juventus critics: ‘Remember the objective’