X

Is Massimiliano Allegri Still the Right Man to Take Juventus Forward?

Sam LoprestiFeatured ColumnistJanuary 26, 2016

Massimiliano Allegri has been a huge success at Juventus.
Massimiliano Allegri has been a huge success at Juventus.Marco Luzzani/Getty Images

Massimiliano Allegri arrived at Juventus amid a sea of controversy.  

Two days into preseason training in 2014, Antonio Conte, who had led the team's rise from the ashes of the Calciopoli scandal to three consecutive titles, resigned after a dispute with the team's front office.  

Faced with an abrupt need in the manager's office, the Bianconeri turned to Allegri, who had been sacked at AC Milan the previous January.

Faced with hostility from the fans, Allegri eventually won them over by taking a fourth straight Scudetto, along with the club's first Coppa Italia in 20 years and a trip to the Champions League final, where they lost a hard-fought battle against Barcelona.

But despite the success he still had his detractors.  After all, his achievements had come with an elite team ready-formed by Conte.  

After a massive player turnover last summer, Juve started poorly, garnering just 12 points in their first 10 games.  But after a loss at Sassuolo, the Bianconeri stormed to life, winning 11 straight games and climbing from 12th to second in the table.

After such an incredible comeback, it seems ridiculous to ask whether Allegri is still the right man to coach Juventus into the future.  But there are a few things to consider in the manager before anointing him now and forevermore—even if for the foreseeable future he's most likely the best man to lead.

It's hard to criticize Allegri tactically.  Some may disagree with his philosophy, which relies more on individual skill than tactical setups, but it's hard to argue with the results.

Allegri's tactical savvy has served Juve well the last two seasons.
Allegri's tactical savvy has served Juve well the last two seasons.Marco Luzzani/Getty Images

He may be more comfortable with a four-man back line rather than the 3-5-2 that Conte introduced halfway through the 2011-12 season, but he has been smart enough to recognize when reverting to the old formation is best for the team, and the hybrid 3-5-2/4-3-3 he ran in October when both of his right-backs were unavailable was nothing less than genius.

His tactical nous is unquestionable, but he does major weakness: he's not a man-manager.

Allegri works best when he has strong leaders in his squad.  In his best season at Milan, 2010-11, he had the likes of Andrea Pirlo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Massimo Ambrosini, Gennaro Gattuso, Alessandro Nesta, Filippo Inzaghi, Thiago Silva and Gianluca Zambrotta in the squad.  That year he won the league by six points, made the semifinal of the Coppa Italia and the knockout stages of the Champions League.

As his tenure at Milan went on, Allegri lost a lot of those leaders.  Pirlo left in 2011 to anchor the Juventus teams that followed.  Ibrahimovic and Silva were sold to Paris Saint-Germain.  Inzaghi, Zambrotta, Nesta and Inzaghi all hung up their boots.

By the time Ambrosini left for a season at Fiorentina in 2013, there was a serious leadership vacuum in the side.  With the former Cesena man gone, the captaincy was given to Riccardo Montolivo—who has thus far shown the leadership value of a parsnip.

As those players were siphoned off, Milan finished second, third and then fell off the cliff to 10th last season.  The leadership gap was clearly one of the main reasons for the team's decline.  Allegri orchestrated some of his biggest tactical successes at Milan, like his 2-0 win over Barcelona at the San Siro in 2013, at the same time.

His rough start this season lay in part because some of the team's biggest leaders like Arturo Vidal, Carlos Tevez and Pirlo moved on.  

Fortunately for Allegri, he still has a laundry list of players in his squad who can lead from within.  Patrice Evra for example, is already a respected presence in the locker room after only a year on the team, and told Sky Sport (h/t Football Italia) after the season-turning loss to Sassuolo that his teammates needed to "understand the importance of the Juve shirt."

Buffon lashed out at his own team after the loss to Sassuolo.
Buffon lashed out at his own team after the loss to Sassuolo.Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images

He also has one of the greatest leaders in world football in goalkeeper and captain Gianluigi Buffon.

Buffon was furious with his team after the Sassuolo game, telling the club's official website (h/t Sky Sports) that their performance was "unacceptable" and that it would only have been satisfying "if we were a provincial side."

Those twin tongue lashings, likely coupled with the words of others including Andrea Barzagli, Claudio Marchisio and Giorgio Chiellini—the likely heir to Buffon's armband—inspired the team to a win the Derby della Mole three days later, the beginning of their 11-game string.

That leadership base is going to erode in the next few seasons.  Barzagli's career is coming to an end, and Buffon said at an awards ceremony on Monday (h/t Football Italia) that he will retire after the 2018 World Cup in Russia.  

Young players like Paulo Dybala, Stefano Sturaro and Daniele Rugani may replace that void, but that still remains to be seen.  Without elder statesmen like the ones he has, Allegri may again struggle to lead his men on a human level.

It's also worth noting that rumors are going to be swirling about Allegri's future.  Over the weekend, he had to brush away reports from British newspaper the Sun (h/t Sky Sports) that Chelsea had contacted his representatives about the possibility of becoming Jose Mourinho's permanent successor.

Chelsea may not be the only club that looks at Allegri this summer.  In December, he had to tell Corriere dello Sport (h/t the Guardian) that he wasn't interested in the Manchester United job, and while there are no media reports linking him, logic would dictate that he would be a candidate for the Italian national team if Conte leaves the Azzurri after the European Championships.

This concern, however, is secondary.  Juve's players have already shown that they can handle coaching intrigue—indeed, after what happened last season, they can probably handle anything in that regard.

Going forward, Allegri has a perfect situation right now.  His team is elite in Italy and competitive against almost anyone in Europe.  He has the right combination of strong leaders on his roster to balance out his weakness at man-management, and he has the tactical mind to fully utilize his versatile squad in numerous ways.

For now, so long as he wants it, Allegri is the man for Juve.  So long as he can bring his strengths to bear without his weaknesses taking over, he will serve the club well for as long as they decide to keep their relationship intact.