Is Max Allegri A “Dead Man Walking” At Juventus?

Even by the standards of elite football in 2023, there has been an incredible amount of pressure placed upon Juventus boss Max Allegri this season. With just one win from their last eight games in all competitions, the volume of disgruntled voices is rapidly increasing.

The chatter has come from a variety of sources, but much of it is based upon things that have been so sorely lacking for the Bianconeri in his second spell at the helm.

Max Credit Limit

But let’s get this out of the way early: Mister Allegri’s previous stint as the Coach in Turin was one of the most successful periods in the club’s long and storied history.

Five Serie A titles, four Coppa Italia triumphs and two trips to the UEFA
EFA
Champions League Final would be a remarkable career haul for many, and Allegri accomplished that while delivering a style of play vastly superior to that of his predecessor.

The Coach took the 3-5-2 framework he inherited from Antonio Conte and continued with it for around half a season, eventually dropping it entirely as he shifted the team into a 4-3-2-1 system.

That allowed players like Carlos Tevez, Alvaro Morata and Arturo Vidal to shine, before Allegri once again rebuilt the side behind the talent of Gonzalo Higuain.

Juve played some exquisite football, before understandable faltering in the aftermath of a heavy defeat in Cardiff.

Cardiff Took A Toll

In hindsight, it feels as if that defeat at the hands of Real Madrid in the 2017 Champions League Final was the tipping point for the Coach. One from which he never fully recovered.

Sure, he had won just three of his league titles at that point and would add two more before departing in the summer of 2019, but it is difficult to remember more than a handful of matches over those last two seasons where that attacking verve he had brought to Turin was on display.

In replacing him with Maurizio Sarri, Juve told the world that winning was no longer enough, that there had to be some style to go with the substance, only for the relationship with the former Chelsea and Napoli boss to sour in less than 12 months.

Next came Andrea Pirlo who also sought to deliver entertaining football, but he too only lasted one season as Juve’s streak of nine consecutive Scudetti came to an abrupt end.

Never Go Back?

It was still a huge shock when it was announced that Allegri would be the one to replace Pirlo, Juve going full circle by appointing a Coach they had allowed to leave just two years earlier.

In doing so, they handed the Tuscan a four-year contract, which a number of sources – including Sky Italia – insist sees him earn around €9 million ($9.93 million) per year.

According to this report from French newspaper L’Equipe, that means he is the fourth-highest paid Coach in Europe, with only Diego Simone, Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp taking home higher salaries.

Having already acknowledged Allegri’s previous successes, it is also necessary to note that he has had to deal with Cristiano Ronaldo’s exit from the club, as well as an off-field saga that had thrown Juve into complete disarray.

Their financial issues (detailed in this series of previous columns) saw the Bianconeri initially deducted 15 points, a penalty they have since been handed back until a new trial has been concluded.

Yet while applauding the Coach’s ability to persevere when all those around him were resigning, none of those mitigating circumstances should prevent genuine analysis of Allegri’s tenure this time around.

Sorry State Of Affairs

Last season saw the Old Lady limp to a fourth-place finish, ending the campaign no fewer than 16 points behind eventual winners AC Milan while exiting the Champions League in the first knockout round.

That defeat to Villarreal was the latest in a string of European failures that goes all the way back to Cardiff, with Allegri’s two previous seasons seeing them knocked out at the quarter final stage by Ajax and Real Madrid.

This season has been a nadir for Juve’s continental adventures, ending the Group Stage with five losses at the hands of PSG (2), Benfica (2) and, most embarrassingly, Maccabi Haifa.

Juve currently sit third in Serie A, but are 19 points behind Napoli. They have struggled to show any kind of attacking cohesion, with games feeling disjointed and lacking ambition or intent when going forward.

Statistics from WhoScored.com support that viewpoint, with no fewer than eight teams retaining a higher level of possession than Juve’s 51.7%. The same website shows that they rank seventh in shots on goal (13.7), 10th in shots on target (4.5) and seventh in passes (483.5).

Given those details, it is no surprise that five teams have scored more goals than Juve’s tally of 57. Midfielder Adrien Rabiot has scored as many as Dusan Vlahovic (8) to be the side’s joint-leading scorer, with the Serbian striker currently in the midst of a Serie A goal drought that goes all the way back to February 7.

It is worth adding here that Vlahovic – who was signed at a cost of €70 million ($77.26 million) back in January 2022 – scored 17 league goals in his last 21 appearances for Fiorentina.

He currently has 15 in 38 Serie A appearances for Juve, yet went away with Serbia for two games in late March, bagging three goals in just 108 minutes of action.

Unsurprisingly, that has seen Allegri’s approach heavily criticised in the media, with analyst Daniele Adani among the most vocal. Speaking on Christian Vieri’s Twitch channel shortly after Juve’s recent Coppa Italia loss to Inter, the Sky Italia pundit did not hold back.

“Allegri makes [Simone] Inzaghi look like Johan Cruijff in comparison,” said Adani after the game. “A team like Inter ought to beat this Juventus 4-0, they were playing against a dead man walking.

“I think Gianni Agnelli was turning in his grave seeing that Juve performance. I’ll be honest, though, not even I believed he could be worse than last season, but that’s where we are.”

“It is honestly sad to watch Juventus players in these conditions,” replied Vieri. Whatever they do, it is almost accidental or a fluke, they have to rely on the opposition making mistakes. There are no ideas.”

Adani continued to voice his opinion during the 90° Minuto show on RAI Sport, insisting that a number of high profile players are not happy with Allegri’s approach.

“The point is: there are no happy players at Juventus,” he said. “It seems difficult to say, but everyone knows. I’ve heard [Federico] Chiesa has never come back. He looks lost, but he hasn’t forgotten how to play.

“Alvaro Morata, Rodrigo Bentancur, and Dejan Kulusevski didn’t work. Suddenly, Dusan Vlahovic doesn’t work either. They are all great players.”

That opinion was echoed by international tv presenter Adrian Del Monte, who acknowledged in the above tweet that Chiesa is not happy with how he has been deployed since returning from injury.

Pressed into service as a wing-back, the talented winger has been unable to make the kind of impact he is capable of, and like Vlahovic and Angel Di Maria, looks visibly frustrated during matches.

Yet Juventus insist Allegri is going nowhere, with Chief Football Officer Francesco Calvo telling reporters that there is no reason to even begin discussing the Coach’s job security.

“I think saying Allegri is confirmed in his place would be saying something entirely obvious,” Calvo told media outlet DAZN. “He returned on a four-year contract and is not even half-way through that project.

“The 11 trophies in seven years at Juventus and two Champions League Finals speak for Allegri, he is absolutely not up for debate.”

Whether or not he is a “dead man walking” remains to be seen, but the facts show it should at least be a conversation. Despite everything he has achieved in the past, in 2023 Max Allegri is struggling.