Max Allegri believes Juventus took ‘another small step forward’ with their 1-0 against Cremonese, extending their winning run to eight games in a row. The Bianconeri struggled for periods and left it late, but a stunning free-kick from Arek Milik was enough to secure a vital three points. Speaking to DAZN, Allegri shared his thoughts on a tightly contested game and his assessment of his teams performance:
“We knew the difficulty, we made a lot of technical mistakes in this match. Coming back after 52 days gave us a lot of unknowns, in the second half we took risks. It was a good win, we took another small step forward. In the first half the guys did well, I had important players on the bench and they did well. After five minutes of messing around, we were settled then the game came back into our hands.
It was a great goal from Milik, it wasn’t easy to win here, and congratulations to the boys. They’re a difficult team to play against, they’re very physical.
Rabiot? He had played in the final, but he had been out before, so his last training session was on 10 December. Too many players with few minutes. Chiesa came in well, Rabiot the same, and Paredes was better as a mezz’ala at the end of the game. When you have these subs it’s important, especially now that you play every four day
Di Maria At risk for Udinese? He trained today, looked better. He has extraordinary quality, he will be ok. He came back and was fine, we hope to have him available, Pogba is also progressing well, as are Vlahovic and Cuadrado. There are five months to play.
Will the transfer market take off? I believe that Juventus has an important squad. There have been defects due to traumatic and non-traumatic injuries. Important youngsters have stepped up, including Iling Jr and Miretti, Soulé in a role not his own, Gatti has grown a lot.
Will I have an extra say in decisions? No, I collaborate with the club and Cherubini, and they update me on the players around. The market is useful if there’s a need for it. If there isn’t, there’s no need to change. Juve’s squad is fine as it is.
We knew the difficulties after 45 days, against a Cremonese team that doesn’t concede goals, it’s a team that runs, presses, and is well organized. Now we have to consolidate our position in the standings, which for now is a good result.
It was a good game from Soule, he sacrificed a lot. He took shots, I’m very happy with him as with all the boys. We are entering a cycle of matches, those who have returned from the World Cup need time, Chiesa did well. We have to keep a low profile and work.
Fagioli has grown a lot, he didn’t play at first, then he came in and is growing, as are Miretti and Soulé. Iling came in well, and Barrenechea is growing a lot. Juve has good youngsters for the future.
With four midfielders like those deployed we could have had more possession, I preferred to put Kean in afterward because we knew they would drop.
Winning counts. Winning here is difficult for everyone. They all struggled, for us, it’s a good step because then we have Udinese and Napoli.”
