Massimiliano Allegri wished he could replay Juventus’ Champions League campaign this season and touched on what he’s learnt from Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool.
The Bianconeri are preparing to face relegation candidates Venezia at home tomorrow afternoon, a match which will surely prove difficult as their opponents fight desperately to avoid the drop to Serie B.
Speaking to gathered reporters in a press conference, Allegri first spoke about the importance of tomorrow’s match.
“First of all we have to return to winning at home. There are still four games to go, we have the chance to take three points against a team that has changed coach and has been losing for eight games.
“They have always fought, we have always conceded goals in the last four and tomorrow we must try not to concede. Tomorrow we need to have great respect for our opponents, we think we’ve already achieved our goal but that’s not the case.”
He gave his thoughts on Moise Kean’s season in Turin.
“Kean never scores boring goals. Tomorrow I’ll assess whether to play him at the start or not. He made a good start in Sassuolo, he’s in good shape physically and mentally and I’m happy with what he’s doing.”
The Italian coach commented on which game he’d replay if he could.
“I’d like to play the Champions League again. You have to remember the mistakes we made. But there have been some positive things, it’s pointless thinking about how the season will end.
“We have to get the four points we need and play the Coppa Italia final in the best possible way.”
Allegri discussed what he’s learnt from Klopp’s experience at Liverpool.
“I was very pleased with the words of the president. Juve have won a lot in recent years, they’ve been very good in Europe, always playing important Champions Leagues. This year we have a good foundation, we have to be ready for next year.
“I don’t know Klopp very well but I like him because he doesn’t take himself seriously and he’s very good. In Italy you tend to throw coaches out overnight, being on the same bench can be an advantage for everyone.
“We’ve worked well with Juve this year, all together, trying to evaluate the mistakes we’ve made. We’re on the right path, but it’s a long way from winning because only one team wins. Not fighting for the championship really angers me.”
The Juventus coach touched on the injury crisis faced by the team and if a solution has been found.
“I think the muscle injuries have been average. The long ones were all traumatic, even Danilo himself got injured in a game. That penalised us but it says a lot about how the team performed.”
Allegri spoke about the condition of Danilo and the rest of his squad.
“Arthur will be available tomorrow. Danilo was rested for a few days but he trained with the team today. He needs to rest but he must play tomorrow.
“Cuadrado should be back for Genoa, De Sciglio we’ll see. McKennie and Locatelli are working well, we hope to have them available by the end of the season but it’s difficult.”
He gave his thoughts on building up attacks from the back, starting with the goalkeeper.
“In everything you need balance. The mistake is not thinking you can’t do one or the other. You have to understand when you have to play from deep, long.
“We all want to play, sometimes it is not allowed by the opponent. There are times when something happens to the goalkeepers. It was important for the goalkeepers, but they make mistakes like everyone else, that’s it.”
He suggested that his team won’t be rotated too much ahead of the Coppa Italia final.
“To do that you have to play football. They make us play seven against seven and we can rest. Otherwise those we have will play, so it’s not like we have such an advantage over Inter.”
Allegri discussed any regrets held from this season.
“The president is right, if you don’t win, you have regrets. It was difficult. Now we have the chance to play for third place with Napoli and we’ll try. Let’s also look at the positive things, the way it started and continued, I think Juve did good things.
“We can’t throw away a season in which, if we succeed, we get into the Champions League. We could have done better, but there are also positive things in a year.”
The Italian coach commented on if any young players are ready for the first team.
“These are assessments that we will make at the end of the year. Let’s finish and then we’ll evaluate everything, those we have inside always train with us while the others are followed weekly in the games they play.”
He didn’t have an explanation for the strange season.
“Because there is no team of absolute value that can dominate the league. And it’s also nice this way because there’s more balance and it’s nice to see how it ends up.”
Finally, Allegri discussed what it would mean if the team finished third this season.
“It would have an important meaning, on January 10 we were in a bad position in the table. There has been work, a chase. Let’s see if we can catch Napoli who were fighting for the Scudetto until their last game.”
Juventus, Allegri e la sfida scudetto: "Non lottare per il campionato mi fa girare le scatole" https://t.co/KiChuR0khX
— TUTTOmercatoWEB (@TuttoMercatoWeb) April 30, 2022
I just wish this guy would leave Italy and take his antiquated couching style with him preferably to PL or La liga instead of ruining Juve.
I think he has done well this season considering the squad he has.
the juve spirit is on the rise.
i think juve as a club need to get him the players he wants and offload the players he doesn’t need.
the spine of the future consists of de ligt, locatelli, zakaria, chiesa, vlahovic.
we need strong players in those roles : center back, right back, left back, 2 midfielders , 1 striker.
sell : rabiot, arthur, alex sandro.
chiellini should decide his future freely.
bench : bonucci, rugani, danilo, pellegrini, cuadrado, mckennie, kaio and kean.
let youngsters like soule, da graca, ake, miretti, play some minutes.
and bring back the old logo!!!
B@w for Presidente!! Nailed it on all counts. The new Konami logo really annoys me. Purely pandering to an Asian market and abandoning our history. We’re Juventus, not Piemonte Black and White.
Do not big up Klopp too much. After all PhD Max has lost 2 CL finals and is the master of the CALMA timeout.
Does there always have to be Interista trolls on here? If you don’t like Juve, don’t watch them so much.
I watched Madrid today, I see highlights of Liverpool, city, Bayern and all the other leagues … juve and Serie A are fossils. Outdated. Arrogant. Ignorant.