Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri says he’s very happy with the way his players responded in their 6-1 win over Salernitana. The Bianoneri fell behind early on before turning things around in quick fashion, with six different goalscorers ensuring their progression to the quarter-finals. Speaking with Sport Mediaset, Allegri praised his players for the way they responded to conceding early:
“We conceded an unexpected goal, but the team’s reaction was good. This year we hadn’t managed to overturn a game, this is a good sign, it means that the team is well. We needed a careful game and the boys did that. Now we have to put this match aside and from tomorrow morning we have to think only about Sunday’s game, which will be a different and compact match”.
“Responses from the youngsters? Responses have come from everyone. Right now we’re fairly well. We played better because we attacked the line a lot and ran forward a lot. We needed more lucidity, especially in the first half we missed the last few passes too often once we got into the box.”
“Yildiz and Chiesa on the pitch together with a first forward? It depends on Chiesa’s physical condition and Yildiz’s growth. Federico had a good game today. In today’s football, whoever comes in from the bench is much more important. Federico, Kean, Weah are important changes from the bench, they have the characteristics to put tired teams in trouble. Then if we are good at playing with more strikers it’s even better, but this depends on growth”.
“I have always been a coach. At Juve there has always been a strong club. Last year we had some difficulties, but I always had the club and Cherubini with me. We fought until the end. Unfortunately last year we lost a semi-final in a daring way and also the Coppa Italia final. This year’s work is also the fruit of last season. We had a good first round, then in those situations…. Things are not built in six months. Giuntoli has arrived and he is giving us a hand. We must continue like this, there’s no need to get excited. We must try to win games and arrive in May trying to be competitive on all fronts.”
“We must finish in the top four. Today I was thinking about next year’s Champions League, which will be different and we need to adapt immediately. It will be important to score immediately. The first eight qualify immediately for the round of 16, to finish in the top eight will be difficult. We must already think about the future, not only about tomorrow, otherwise we will find ourselves without programming.
“An adjective about Yildiz? He’s a very intelligent boy, he will surely have an important career ahead of him. I have never seen great players who were not intelligent. In big teams you need intelligent guys, in this group there are some. This is a group that wants to do extraordinary things and wants to improve, I’m very happy with everyone.
“Gatti played an excellent game after that mistake. Great career prospects for Yildiz? Others have it too, but we will see at the end of his career. Maybe now it is easier to arrive, or at least you arrive in a different way: before to be considered a Serie A player you had to play 100 games. When he has played 7-8 years at this level, you will be able to say that he is a great player.”
