Former Juventus midfielder Alessio Tacchinardi believes the current squad needs a complete overhaul, starting with Max Allegri. ‘Names don’t bring trophies, but hunger and motivation.’
The Bianconeri are for the second season in a row going to end completely empty-handed, but while last term they had at least reached the Final of the Coppa Italia and lost the Supercoppa Italiana too, this time around they got nowhere near silverware.
“I hope that this season will at least teach Juventus that names don’t bring trophies, but hunger and motivation,” Tacchinardi told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“It is time to realise that anyone in the club who feels sated has to step aside and give over to those who are ready to eat grass to get the job done, to give everything, without calculation or reservation.”
Allegri continues to argue that Juventus would be in second place in Serie A without the 10-point penalty that was inflicted for artificially inflating transfer fees to boost capital gains.
However, the 4-1 defeat to Empoli on Monday evening followed on from the Europa League semi-final elimination at the hands of Sevilla and showed a team that is struggling.
“The overall view of the season can only be negative. This team struggled in terms of consistency and style. The most significant games are the second leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final with Inter and that defeat at Empoli, two nights that could’ve transformed the season, but Juve simply didn’t show up for.
“If they had beaten Empoli, then even with a 10-point penalty, they’d still be able to beat Milan in the head-to-head and qualify for the Champions League. Instead, they burned through this huge opportunity and after the match I heard a sense of resignation.”
Allegri is under growing pressure, because while he has helped to bring through fresh talents from the Next Gen side, his constant tinkering bemused many.
“What I saw from the coach was many different line-ups over the last two seasons in a sort of desperate search for a Juve that was never found,” continued Tacchinardi.
“When Juve wanted him back, they knew Allegri is a results man whose vision of football is not exactly aimed at providing entertainment. However, football is changing at the same speed we see new smartphones come out all the time.
“The club ought to evaluate if Allegri still has the competence, the charisma and the hunger to keep a team going when the pressure grows every year. If the only reason to keep him is economic, then that would be damaging for all involved.”
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