Max Allegri explained why Juventus “could never play” like Napoli or embrace Maurizio Sarri’s style of football. “All that’s left is what’s written in history books.”
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Max Allegri explained why Juventus “could never play” like Napoli or embrace Maurizio Sarri’s style of football. “All that’s left is what’s written in history books.”
It kicks off on Sunday at 19.45 UK time (18.45 GMT), click here for a match preview.
You can read the entire Press conference as it happened on the LIVEBLOG.
Napoli and Maurizio Sarri have been praised for their style of football, but Allegri notes there’s more to football than entertainment.
“I speak of objective facts. The facts state Juventus have 85 points and Napoli 81. I hear a lot of talk, I listen and I have fun. I keep my opinions to myself, or you can go to the bar in Livorno and ask my friends what I think.
“Sarri has done extraordinary work. He inherited a team from Rafa Benitez and moved Marek Hamsik to wide midfield, that’s the main difference. He builds his games on defence, as he only has Arkadiusz Milik who is tall and good in the air, the others are all little.
“He put together a team that is beautiful to watch, but also got some very good results over the years. He has improved a lot from his time in Lega Pro and is proving his worth.
“Over the last six years, Napoli have changed about one player, as far as I can tell. I think that’s an advantage. Over the last four years, Juventus changed many players and did extraordinary work on the market, bringing in players with different characteristics to those we had.”
Allegri was asked if he was jealous that Sarri has a style of football named after him – Sarrismo – whereas nobody talks about Allegrismo.
“I am not jealous. I am glad that after so many years of hard work, Sarri has reached the level he deserves.
“All Coaches learn from their experience and improve every year, seeing what needs to be improved or tweaked. I think a Coach should make the most of his characteristics and the qualities within the squad.
“Sarri is making Napoli play well and getting the best out of the characteristics of his players. Juventus could never play the same way as Napoli, because we’ve got a much stronger physical impact and height, whereas they are all pretty short.
“At the end of the day, all Coaches have one objective: to win. The strategy and the way of getting there is not the same. If I usually find two open doors and one day they are closed, I have to find another strategy.
“The fact remains, all that is left is what’s written down in the history books.
“Napoli’s season is extraordinary, but they have been for several years now with the style of football and good results. They spent an entire solar year on top of the table. They’ve become a reality both on an Italian and European level, so Italian football ought to be proud.”
Sarri spoke about pressure, claiming Napoli had nothing to lose in Turin, so Allegri hit back with a joke.
“Napoli don’t have pressure with the Champions League, Europa League or Coppa Italia, so it’s only right that Juventus win, right?
“It’s wonderful to play these games, whether in Madrid, the Coppa Italia Final or a Champions League Final. We’ve got some great fixtures coming up and should go into them with great enthusiasm.
“If Napoli finish ahead of us come May 20, we’ll tip our hats to them, but for now we are ahead.
“Right now all we have to do is do. There’s no distraction, there’s no calculations. When the fixture list came out, as always, I looked at the final six rounds and I said the Scudetto would certainly be decided in these final weeks.
“The fact Juve and Napoli reach the last five with a four-point gap was improbable, because we can both reach at least 96 points. In any case, regardless of how our season went, we could not mathematically be safe winning the title with five games to go.
“Juventus have the points we deserve. There’s no reason to say oh if we’d won at SPAL or Crotone. We can’t win all the time. Juventus put in a lot of effort in Madrid and it was natural we’d leave something behind afterwards, as that’s physiological.
“At Crotone we conceded another goal with a bicycle kick. This year, we’re having trouble with bicycle kicks… Hopefully there won’t be another tomorrow.”