Former Juventus defender Matthijs de Ligt insists he has the ‘utmost respect’ for the Old Lady but admits Max Allegri’s choices made him lose confidence.
The Dutch defender has joined Bayern Munich this summer, following a three-year spell in Turin. From the very beginning of the summer, he had made clear that he wanted to leave Juventus, but some of his claims were seen as disrespectful by the Old Lady’s fans.
Leonardo Bonucci also accused his former teammate of lacking respect toward the Serie A giants.
“In an interview with the NOS in June, I said that – as the club itself thinks –it is not good enough to finish fourth twice in a row at a club like Juventus,” De Ligt told De Telegraaf.
“That was not an attack on Juventus. Not at all, because I will always have the utmost respect for this club. It was just a fact that no one could be satisfied. The bar had to be raised, including me. Maybe it was taken over or came across incorrectly.”
De Ligt had joined Juventus in an €85.5m fee from Ajax in 2019 and left the Bianconeri this summer for circa €80m, including add-ons.
“I will never forget how my former teammates helped me in my development as a footballer and as a person and to ground at the club,” the 23-year-old continued.
“Last season, for the first time in my career, I had two coaches, Louis van Gaal and Massimiliano Allegri, who didn’t put me in the starting lineup and didn’t feel confident.
“Before that, I had always had coaches who were fans of me and then it is easy to perform.”
De Ligt played under three different coaches during his time at Juventus. First with Maurizio Sarri, then Andrea Pirlo and finally Max Allegri.
The Netherlands international racked up 42 appearances in Turin last season, scoring three goals. Overall, he played 117 games with the Old Lady.
We all love and respect Juventus but aim ours at allegri
Allegri didnt put you in the starting line up??? You started pretty much every game!
And yet last season, he performed best for Juve. Might have been easier to perform for him under other coaches but he suffered greater lapses in concentration. Another Gen Z with no backbone. Good luck but make your actions on the pitch do the talking.
For a player born this century-one of the top 3 overrated players of his generation. Juventus have failed to adequately replace Chiellini and an ageing Bonucci. They didn’t retain Demiral or Romeo.. De Ligt himself leaving is absolutely not a loss for Juventus, given the defenders of the past 20 years, he has little worth. We should have used monies on Badiashille or gone heavy a couple of years ago for Bastoni.
He started almost every game last season
I think he meant across 3 coaches when we still relied much on bonucci & chiello
Farewell Handball Master
DUDE YOU STARTED AND PLAYED MANY GAMES COMMMEEE ONNNN
This guy clearly doesn’t have the attitude of a champion. Some goes for Kulusevski, who claimed there was too much competition. Good management sold these players. He’s on the bench at Bayern too by the way.
Please don’t make an excuse. You never planned on staying for the long term the minute you signed . You came to learn from the best
Where is the “dig aimed at Allegri”? His not starting made him lose confidence is an excuse for poor performance. It is not a dig at Allegri.
He started almost every match when he was fit, what a clown.
Sounds like the kid has an ego that needs to be stroked by managers…not a good sign for Nagelsman trying to manage that at Munich when he’s been starting on the bench for them
His leaving was a blessing for Juve – it brought Bremer in who is twice the player this guy will ever be.
Maybe if you didn’t give away so many fouls and handball penalties we may have won a few more 😂🤦🏻♂️
No surprise that it did not work out for him. Having 3 coaches in successive years as well as going to a smaller team with less UCL’s than his boyhood club was a mistake. He is still young and going to Munich, he is now at a proper giant of the game and excuses will not be acceptable now. Second chance and good luck to the fella.
Bye bye Handball Ligt.
It’s a shame he was sold. I loved watching his sloppy tackles and many handballs
You better focus on ur Bayern
@Piemonte You said that about CR7 at Utd and how’s that working out?
Not an Allegri fan, but I would take his achievements every day of the week over De Ligt’s.