Claudio Marchisio believes Juventus legend Alessandro Del Piero played a huge role in his development as a young man and a player. The two played together until the former Juve captain left Turin for Sydney FC, and speaking with BSMT, Marchisio recounted what it was like to work alongside a club icon for the formative part of his career in black and white and highlighted the differences between coaches Antonio Conte and Max Allegri:
“Besides the legend of Alessandro there is the person. He has been a teammate, a friend. So you don’t just remember that my first career goal came from an assist from him against Fiorentina, but more what happens in the locker room or off the pitch.”
“A lot of times the feeling of a winning team comes from what happens outside, the memories go on that then Alex for me was a big help in growing as a boy and a player. When I came to the first team it was the year of Calciopoli, so many youngsters getting into the first team after the world champions that left and they put themselves on the same level as you to give you a hand on and off the field, imagine the excitement.”
“My consecration on the field, as a position, did not start with Conte but with Ciro Ferrara. Conte went on to affect the inner fire of the team. He was helpful to so many besides the tactical aspect. His great strength was and is that, being able to get into the players’ heads. If one is struggling he has great strength in that aspect.”
“Limitations? Yes, sometimes he doesn’t realize that he goes a little overboard in trying to get the energy out of the players by putting some pressure on them, but in his coaching journey he has improved.
“Allegri? Compared to Conte he has a totally opposite idea of football, he arrived at a complicated time, his great ability was to put a little something more on the squad by empowering us a little more. We were free to create in the middle of the pitch, coming close to a hat trick of trophies that year. Max has that ability to not overload the players, beyond the last very difficult period and I can understand the frustration.”
“The points penalty? As a fan I wait and see what will happen. As a fan you focus on the games, regardless of the result you know there is something that has to be completed. The only thing I can say is that giving a penalty at this time of the season, in general, I don’t think it’s a right thing for a league that is going on with still many games to play. It would have been more appropriate to wait until the end of the year and see what would come out. I hope that FIFA and UEFA will create specific and respected rules with the hope that we clean up football that in recent years, covid or not, needs to be changed.”
