Max Allegri explains how he gets the best out of Alvaro Morata after the brace in a 3-1 win away to Sampdoria and why Adrien Rabiot feels like a flop at Juventus.
The Bianconeri did just enough at Marassi to secure the three points, going 2-0 up without a single shot on target from open play thanks to a Maya Yoshida own goal and Morata penalty.
After Wojciech Szczesny saved an Antonio Candreva spot-kick and Abdelhamid Sabiri’s free kick was deflected in, but Morata’s header sealed the scoreline.
Serie A | Sampdoria 1-3 Juventus: Morata clinical at Marassi
“Alvaro is one of the best forwards on a technical level in Europe. He will struggle more if you use him with his back to goal. If he plays a little wider, with the space to run inside and use his characteristics, he’s excellent,” Allegri told DAZN.
“The team did well on a technical level today. We need to improve when we’re in control of the match, lower the tempo and then speed it up with a vertical pass to close it. We need to understand when it’s time to be patient and wait a moment.
“Sampdoria are not an easy team to face, we needed this result to consolidate fourth place and prepare for Villarreal in the best way.”
Moise Kean started instead of Dusan Vlahovic, so did he make enough of an impact?
“Kean did well, he earned the penalty, sparked the move for the first goal, so he is an important player for this squad. Naturally, he is young and still needs to improve, especially his touch and control, but can be devastating when he has space to run into.”
Rabiot gave away the penalty and was fortunate not to receive a second yellow card, so are Juventus fans right to consider him a flop?
“He gives the feeling he can score 10 goals, but he hardly ever does. He needs to feel more freedom and be more effective upfront.”
Allegri continues to maintain Juventus are not in the Scudetto race, but they are currently four points off top spot, admittedly with an extra game played.
He was asked if it was more likely that Juventus will win the title or Paulo Dybala extend his contract?
“I don’t know. Paulo is discussing it with the club, we hope to have him available on Wednesday.”