Max Allegri admitted that Juve played a poor first half in their 1-1 draw with Salernitana: ‘We became disjointed.’ The Bianconeri needed a win against already relegated Salernitana to secure a place in next season’s Champions League, but had to settle for a point after a lacklustre performance.
Speaking post-match, Allegri lamented his teams’ performance, and shed some light on his future beyond this season:
“We had a poor first half. We started reasonably well, then we had two or three situations where we made the wrong final passing choice. After that, we became disjointed because we didn’t hold positions anymore, and indeed, there was a drop in attention, as we conceded from a set piece. We knew Salernitana could be dangerous from set pieces, and there we were inattentive; in fact, we didn’t concede anything from set pieces afterward. In the second half, there was a good reaction, but we needed to be more precise, more effective, and we weren’t.”
Responding to a question regarding the mental aspect of the game, Allegri emphasized the need for patience and precision: “Let’s analyze what happened in the first half, where we just needed the patience to circulate the ball, to play the right passes, not to shoot when there was no need but to pass it. Then in the second half, the boys reacted well, they had chances to score, but in the end, the same thing happened as in Rome: at the 95th minute, you can’t risk losing such a game because otherwise, you really risk not recovering. Unfortunately, this is the fifth draw; we have three days to prepare for the final against Atalanta, and then we will have the remaining two matchdays to try to get the two points we need for mathematical certainty.”
Allegri then addressed the frenetic pace that often leads Juventus to negative results: “I believe that in football, you shouldn’t be frenetic, but you should be fast. We started well on this, but like in Rome: we had favorable situations and didn’t exploit them due to wrong choices in the final pass. Then it’s normal that frenzy takes over.
“For us, Wednesday is important; it’s a second half of the season that we’ve done poorly in, and matches have become tough for Juventus, where even against the last in the league, it becomes complicated because you need composure, clarity, patience. It was enough not to concede a goal and try to capitalize on the chances we had.
“Instead, we conceded a goal from a set piece, then there was a chance with Kean’s shot, and even there, in my opinion, it could have been developed better; we got caught on the counter, and Szczesny had to intervene. These are all signs of frenzy, and the team surely needs to improve on this. At this moment, when we see the objective, we want to achieve it and we haven’t succeeded. But now we need to be good at recovering our energy because Wednesday is the Cup final, it’s a big night, and then we’ll think about the league to try to get the two points or with a victory to reach the Champions League.”
“My future? Be patient, there’s 10 days left, you’ll know.”
