Some tension emerged between Max Allegri and Wojciech Szczesny, as the coach blamed the goalkeeper for ‘not speaking Italian fluently,’ when the meaning of his Juventus criticism was very clear.
The problem started after Thursday’s Europa League semi-final defeat to Sevilla, a result that eliminated the Bianconeri from the competition.
They had taken the lead through Dusan Vlahovic, after a 1-1 first leg draw, but despite a series of heroic Szczesny saves, Sevilla still managed to equalise and then win 2-1 in extra time.
“If I make lots of saves, that is not a good sign for our performance. All the saves were futile this evening, there is great disappointment,” Szczesny told Sky Sport Italia on Thursday evening.
When that was put to Allegri during today’s press conference, the coach reiterated he thought Juve had a great game at the Sanchez-Pizjuan.
“After playing a game, people should generally stay quiet,” replied Allegri.
“I struggle to speak too. In the heat of the moment, you can say things that are inaccurate, because often the sensation you get on the touchline is different due to the emotional component.
“I don’t know exactly what words Szczesny used, but seeing as he doesn’t speak Italian fluently, I think perhaps he used the wrong terms.”
Szczesny played in Serie A for Roma first and then Juventus, he speaks fluent Italian and communicated his ideas very clearly in that interview.
Fans and media have all pointed out this fact, suggesting the coach was trying to throw his goalkeeper under the bus for daring to criticise a performance over two legs that was simply not good enough to reach the Europa League Final.
They also joked that if anything, Szczesny can be clearer in his communication skills than Allegri at times, who wanders into Tuscan dialect.
“The team did everything the right way in Seville, we were just lacking precision in attack and allowed a goal that we should’ve defended better on, but these things happen,” continued Allegri.
“It was not easy to go to Seville and create six or seven scoring opportunities and unfortunately we didn’t take enough of them.”