Allegri is the new Juve Manager – Early thoughts

By tdf, July 16, 2014

Far from excited about the arrival of Allegri but the situation could be worse. Also, other than the half season before he lost his job at Milan, he did well enough at AC, especially considering the power struggle with Galliani and dear Silvio, and the hotchpotch collection of parts which would clearly not fit well together supplied to him along with the demand to make it work. Any team which brings in a former player, hugely respected by the fans, with zero management experience, then sacks him a few months later, only to replace him with another former player hugely respected by the fans with zero experience at senior management, is in a poor state at upper management level.

Allegri’s work at Cagliari was encouraging and great to watch and he brings important european experience to a club which was woefully unimpressive in Europe last season (As some have mentioned above…we seemed to appear scared at times, with Conte projecting his own lack of self-belief to his squad). I was pleased with his mention – during the interview – of Juve needing to find themselves in the top eight in the champions league. And I will not be surprised if he manages that feat or better this term. It certainly will not be tricky to improve upon Conte’s efforts last term in european competition with the squad we have (unless we receive a hellish group!)…for despite the lunatic reactions of some supporters, the players have not suddenly lost their talent as Antonio has walked out the door. They are professionals. It is also important to note that our success is not just down to Conte. It was Beppe and Paratici with Agnelli’s support who brought in the vast majority of the core set of players responsible for our recent spate of magnificent domestic dominance. Not Conte. Granted he blended the team perfectly for Serie A, yet others were responsible for making the squad, and also coaching the squad. Carrera and Alessio have done well enough. Not to be considered as Head Coach, but in their background roles and I hope they are retained.

The new boss seems smart enough to know that not much needs changing, but also, improvement is required in Europe and the challenge domestically will be tougher, with Roma strengthening and buoyed by their efforts last season.

On the surface of things it seems a shame to lose out on Iturbe, yet he has one good season under his belt at Verona (where he would be given more space and less respect from opponents than if he played at a stronger club) and is rather pricey. A risk I would have been happy to see materialize, but neither am I angry about our failure to finish the deal. Morata still seems likely, which could be a great move despite the irritating feeder club sensation.

Pereyra and Romulo still look like decent deals. Quags, Vucinic and Peluso all out. Money left to spend on another classy player or two. Indeed, the situation is far from as desolate as many seem to believe.