Massimiliano Allegri running out of time and ideas at Juventus

There is growing negativity towards Massimiliano Allegri and his tactical faults at Juventus. 

The Bianconeri may have won their last three league games, but the team still has a number of technical, tactical and disciplinary flaws that are yet to be fixed by the Italian coach.

Allegri’s 5-4-1 formation when his team is defending is neither pleasing on the eye nor good for motivating his players.

The likes of Angel Di Maria, Dusan Vlahovic, Federico Chiesa and Moise Kean are not used to defending and want to offer something in the final third, but the team’s cautious approach is creating a collective psychological block. 

The side only bursts into life when behind in matches, and allows games to drift when they go in front.

Allegri out of ideas at Juventus

Juventus currently have 11 players disconnected from each other and lack control in midfield, while they are also not getting the best out of Vlahovic.

Allegri seems confused on the touchline and when he asks for help from his assistants he is left shaking his head and appears nervous. 

His way of motivating players seems to no longer have the magical effect that it once did; his gaze betrays the fear of someone who is running out of ideas.

Allegri’s future, as a result, hangs by a thin thread that risks breaking every day. 

There is a strong belief that he is not the right man for the club’s rebirth. Allegri is considered a coach of great players and not a motivator capable of rebuilding a club.

Antonio Conte would be the perfect replacement and Igor Tudor would also be a strong alternative following his fine work at Marseille.

Do Juventus really need Allegri?

Juventus beat relegation candidates Spezia over the weekend, but they must now get past Nantes in the Europa League on Thursday.

Failure to beat the French club could signal the end of Allegri’s second spell in Turin. 

The Italian giants are desperate to win the Europa League so that they can play in next season’s Champions League. Elimination would be devastating to the team’s financial accounts.

Nervousness in front of the cameras is the clearest sign of how Allegri is no longer capable of handling conflicting emotions at the end of a match in which Juventus should have achieved a very simple victory. 

The draw against Nantes was an example of a game that Juventus should have put to bed, but they failed to do so and have left themselves with plenty of work to do to make the last-16 of the Europa League.

One of Juventus’s most evident problems is their lack of athletic intensity. The players are regularly physically inferior to their opponents in matches.

It may seem hyperbolic but if Juventus played in the Premier League, they would risk relegation to the Championship. 

The athletic gap with the English teams is embarrassing and the poor performance against a mediocre French team like Nantes proved it.

Allegri’s excessive cautiousness has left the club’s hierarchy considering whether he is the right man to take the team forward next season, according to Gazzetta dello Sport.

His lack of sensitivity in managing star players Di Maria and Chiesa, both victims of tactical obsessions and excessive defensive duties, could push Allegri out of Juventus.

Chiesa and Di Maria not comfortable with Allegri

For long stretches of the Nantes game, Chiesa was used as a wing-back with primary duties as a defender and not as an attacker. 

Allegri is not playing to his strengths, and this is an embarrassing situation for the manager considering how Chiesa still needs many more games in his best position to be 100 per cent fit after almost a year of inactivity due to a serious knee injury.

In many periods of the match it was possible to observe Chiesa as a left back guarding the defensive area. When Chiesa can attack spaces he is devastating, but leaving him to cover 50 metres of the pitch seemed excessive to the fans at the stadium. 

Chiesa is being run into the ground by playing in an unfamiliar role and would be far better suited to playing as an attacking winger where he can focus on providing quality at the business end of the pitch.

Meanwhile Di Maria, as revealed by the Sky Sports cameras, appeared very upset as he left the field against Nantes, but his precarious physical condition seemed to justify the coach’s choices. 

However, it remains puzzling that when Allegri had Chiesa, Di Maria and Vlahovic at his disposal at the same time, he entrusted the former two to carry out defensive tasks to ensure balance, leaving Vlahovic isolated in attack, meaning that he became less effective as the game wore on.