Napoli Defeat Highlights Every Flaw Of Max Allegri’s Juventus

Having won eight consecutive games, Juventus had climbed into second place in the Serie A table and there was growing optimism that they had turned a corner as they approached a clash with league leaders Napoli.

However, the Bianconeri would be given a rude awakening by their hosts at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona as the home side delivered a performance that laid bare every failing of their hapless opponent.

Indeed, it took Napoli just 13 minutes to carve open a defence that had kept eight consecutive clean sheets as Victor Osimhen put them ahead. The striker would then turn provider 20 minutes later as he picked out Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and the Georgia international bagged his seventh goal of the campaign.

But Ángel Di María would pull one back for Juve and give them some semblance of hope as the game headed into half time. That feeling would not last long.

Whatever Luciano Spalletti said and did during the interval, it seemed to inspire his players as Napoli came out firing on all cylinders in the second half with Amir Rrahmani netting with 55 minutes played.

The Partenopei would grab two more goals through Eljif Elmas and Osimhen before the final whistle blew, ultimately winning the contest 5-1 to open up a nine-point lead over the chasing pack in Serie A.

As commanding as that gap between Napoli and their league rivals looks, this game perhaps served as an even greater reminder of the chasm between Juventus and any side with genuine quality.

Their previous winning streak had certainly given supporters a false sense of security, but every fear about Max Allegri and his approach was realised over those 90 painful minutes in Naples.

The Italian press did not hold back in their criticism of the Bianconeri, with Alberto Polverosi of the Corriere dello Sport insisting that Juve “only existed for 10 minutes” and that they were “blown away as if the players were only on the pitch by chance.”

It is impossible to argue with that view, and there is no doubt that Allegri is to blame. As he has since returning to the club in May 2021, he once again employed negative tactics that consistently fail against competent opposition.

Whilst the sides enjoying success across Europe – including Napoli – seek to press the ball regularly, Allegri has clearly instructed his players to stand off, and the time and space that allows makes it easy for any decent side to play through them.

Relying on opponents to make mistakes may have worked against Cremonese, Hellas Verona and Lecce, but Napoli joined AC Milan, Benfica (twice) and Paris Saint-Germain (twice) on the list of teams who have simply picked Juve apart this season.

To highlight Allegri’s desire to seemingly simply sit deep and hope for a misplaced pass as his team blocks attacking channels, statistics from the official Serie A website show that while Juve were in control of the ball for 21 minutes and three seconds, Napoli had it for 31 minutes and 34 seconds.

Yet according to WhoScored.com, the Bianconeri attempted only 34 tackles to the host’s 36. When Napoli lost the ball, they went hunting it, when Juve lost possession they dropped off and allowed the Partenopei — who had 10 shots on target to Juve’s two — to easily pass around them.

After the final whistle, Juve defender Danilo quickly identified that as a problem too. “We made lots of mistakes tonight and that’s something we must improve,” the Brazilian said during his post-match interview with DAZN. “Napoli were running faster than us today so we shouldn’t have left them so much space.”

Allegri’s team selection undoubtedly compounded those feelings too, with Federico Chiesa deployed as a wing-back. Seeing the club’s most potent source of creativity and attacking verve asked to play in defence serves as a perfect microcosm of the current approach, particularly as this was the Italy star’s first start in over a year.

Returning to the lineup following a torn ACL would be bad enough, but being used in such a role against a high octane opponent made zero sense and it was no surprise to see Chiesa struggle.

That left the rest of the defence exposed, and Napoli enjoyed ripping through a porous backline all night long. Beyond Chiesa, there is the on-going issue of Manuel Locatelli – Juve’s best midfielder – being asked to sit in front of the defence and then the decision to drop the impressive crop of youngsters who had starred in the club’s recent run of good results.

Nicolò Fagioli, a 21-year-old midfielder, had started two of the previous three games and scored in the win over Inter back in November, but was an unused substitute against Napoli in favour of Weston McKennie and Adrien Rabiot.

The same is true for Fabio Miretti (19) who had started the two previous games and that victory against Inter but saw just 18 minutes of action at the Stadio Armando Maradona, while Samuel Iling-Junior and Matias Soule (both 19) were also marginalised.

There has understandably been heavy criticism in the press, from Antonio Cassano’s blunt analysis to a much more considered and insightful view from former Juve striker Christian Vieri.

“Juve should begin by fixing their style of play,” he told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “I’d like to see the Bianconeri play football but instead, I have the impression that they don’t know what to do when they take the field.”

That is the perfect summary following such an embarrassing defeat. Juventus need to fix their style of play because it looks like they don’t know what they are doing.