Allegri calls for young Juventus side to improve their understanding in games

By Sports Desk January 15, 2022

Massimiliano Allegri warned that his Juventus players sometimes become too relaxed as he implored for improvements after defeating Udinese.

Goals from Paulo Dybala and Weston McKennie saw Juve claim a 2-0 triumph on Saturday, lifting fifth-placed Juve onto the same points as Atalanta, who occupy the last Champions League qualification spot.

Atalanta do have two games in hand, however, as the race for the final place in Europe's premier competition hots up.

Despite Juve's victory, Allegri outlined his reasons for frustration with some parts of the performance at the Allianz Stadium.

"We held out mentally and technically for 120 minutes on Wednesday, but there was a moment tonight when we just left the game," Allegri told Sky Sport Italia.

"That's not right, we always have to be fully focused, especially when there aren't enough fans to keep us on our toes, because for 10 minutes we ran some big risks.

"The thing we absolutely cannot do without is intensity, tempo and aggression, because if we don't drop the intensity level, then we don't get distracted and can make our technique count.

"I looked at the line-up, we had Matthijs de Ligt born in 1999, [Dejan] Kulusevski 2000, [Moise] Kean 2000, [Luca] Pellegrini 1999, the oldest was [Juan] Cuadrado and the others all between 20 and 23 years old. 

"You can lack some experience and understanding in those moments of when to hold off and when to control it."

Allegri assured, though, that with experience will come the understanding of how to control such moments in any given fixture.

"We made a mistake in the second half, thinking we were relaxed and in charge, so we drifted out of the game. It's not about finding a leader, it's about the general maturity as a whole," he said.

"You need experience in every profession, nobody is born knowing everything.

"We need patience. I did get very angry at that moment, but I talked to them afterwards and tried to make them understand. The important thing is they understand quickly and it has to be done on an individual level, whether they are at Juventus or elsewhere."

Juve are next in Serie A action on Sunday when they travel to face Milan.

Related items

  • Barcelona battle to draw while Juventus edge out Lecce Barcelona battle to draw while Juventus edge out Lecce

    LaLiga leaders Barcelona twice had to battle from behind as Fermin Lopez’s first goal for the club earned a hard-fought draw at Real Mallorca.

    Xavi’s side have been the early pace-setters as they look to defend their league title but the visitors had to settle for a 2-2 draw at the Iberostar Stadium.

    Vedat Muriqi and Abdon Prats goals had twice had the hosts in front but Raphinha cancelled out the opener before substitute Lopez struck to earn Barca a share of the spoils.

    Two early goals set Sevilla on their way to an emphatic 5-1 home win over Almeria.

    Youssef En-Nesyri headed home with seven minutes on the clock after Loic Bade had hit the woodwork and just a minute later the lead was doubled courtesy of a fine solo strike from Dodi Lukebakio.

    Suso’s curling effort wrapped up the win before the interval with Erik Lamela adding a fourth before a Luis Suarez penalty reduced the arrears, only for Kike Salas to make it five in stoppage time.

    In Italy, Juventus moved two points behind early leaders Inter Milan with a 1-0 win over a Lecce side who finished with 10 men.

    Arkadiusz Milik’s close-range effort proved to be enough for Juve, who saw out the game to wrap up the win as the visitors had Mohamed Kaba sent off in injury time after picking up a second yellow card for simulation.

    Meanwhile, Lille’s inconsistent start to the Ligue 1 season continued as they fell to a 2-1 home defeat to Reims.

    Paulo Fonseca’s side have won just two of their six opening league games and early goals from Mohamed Daramy and Keito Nakamura saw them slip up once again despite Benjamin Andre’s second-half consolation.

    Elsewhere, a much-changed Bayern Munich side made light work of third-tier Preussen Munster in the first round of the DFB-Pokal.

    Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting put the Bundesliga giants ahead early on and they were out of sight by the break as Konrad Laimer and Frans Kratzig got in on the act.

    The 4-0 win was wrapped up by a late Mathys Tel effort as Thomas Tuchel’s side advance with ease.

  • ‘There is no magic wand’ says Wolves boss after Carabao Cup exit at Ipswich ‘There is no magic wand’ says Wolves boss after Carabao Cup exit at Ipswich

    Gary O’Neil painted a bleak picture of the situation at Wolves and admitted “no magic wand” will fix their problems after a 3-2 loss at Ipswich in the Carabao Cup third round.

    Wolves slumped to a fifth defeat in eight matches under the former Bournemouth manager, who only took over on August 9 following the departure of Julen Lopetegui by mutual consent.

    O’Neil made 10 changes for the Portman Road clash and despite taking a 2-0 lead via goals by Hwang Hee-chan and Toti, the Premier League outfit were on the end of an upset after Championship high-flyers Ipswich responded through Omari Hutchinson, Freddie Ladapo and Jack Taylor.

    Asked for a message to disgruntled Wolves supporters, O’Neil insisted: “To stick with the group.

    “We are six weeks into a process and there is no magic wand. I can guarantee you when I arrived the place was not running perfectly and ready to go into a Premier League season.

    “There are a lot of things that need fixing and of course I am willing to take responsibility, but the facts are you need some time to put things in place. That does not look like a team that I have worked with for very long at this moment, which it isn’t.

    “Do I accept that we need to get results? Of course. Do I want the fans to enjoy every game we play and come away and support the players? Of course and we will work tirelessly to make sure we get it there and we will get it there.

    “But there is no transfer window. The transfer window is closed and we are together as we are and need to get the maximum out of the group.

    “We’ve named a strong team with 11 players that should be capable of winning here and we don’t, so it is my responsibility to make sure we get some more out of them.”

    Life does not get any easier for Wolves with Manchester City set to visit on Saturday and it will be a return to Molineux for Matheus Nunes, who left in a £53million deal last month.

    O’Neil pointed out the club’s net spend this summer when asked to reflect on the issues at the Midlands outfit.

    “I think when I arrived the culture of the club needed a shift and some of it needs to move towards more togetherness,” O’Neil admitted.

    “Yeah, there is a big list of things that need fixing. Of course I understand it is my responsibility and people will say, ‘they did fine last year,’ but the truth is they got 41 points and we made an £80million profit on players in the summer.

    “So, we’re £80million short of where we were and last year we got 41 points.

    “We need to move it from that in a more difficult situation now than the club was then player-wise, so that’s the facts of the job.

    “I understood that when I took the job, I understand it now and every weekend is not going to be rosy. We’re going to suffer some tough weekends and we’ll need to crack on and go again.”

    While Wolves were left to reflect on a sorry defeat, Ipswich’s highly-rated manager Kieran McKenna toasted his own first win against top-flight opposition.

    After Hwang and Toti netted within 15 minutes, the Championship’s second-placed club continued their terrific form with three unanswered goals.

    Chelsea loanee Hutchinson started the comeback with a right-footed effort from eight-yards before Ladapo fired home inside the area before half-time.

    Taylor completed the turnaround with a 25-yard thunderbolt and the 58th-minute strike sent Ipswich into the fourth round of the competition for the first time since 2010.

    “We need to enjoy tonight because it is the first time we’ve had a Premier League team here in quite a few years,” McKenna acknowledged.

    “It is 11 years since we beat a Premier League team so a good night for progress and the regrowth of this football club again, but it is a cup game.

    “The result tonight does not win us anything but it is really significant as a marker point for the development of the squad, so we’ll take it as that and enjoy it for a sign of progress.”

  • ‘We bottled it’ says Peterborough boss after shoot-out shock at Mansfield ‘We bottled it’ says Peterborough boss after shoot-out shock at Mansfield

    Peterborough boss Darren Ferguson called his players ‘bottlers’ after they lost a Carabao Cup penalty shoot-out 3-1 at League Two Mansfield.

    Posh came from behind to lead but the game ended 2-2 when Lucas Akins netted a stoppage-time penalty.

    Former Peterborough goalkeeper Christy Pym then saved two spot-kicks before Davis Keillor-Dunn netted the winner as the Nottinghamshire team ensured they remain the only EFL side unbeaten this season, making the fourth round of the competition for the first time since 1975.

    Ferguson said: “I don’t like criticising my players in public and I very rarely do as a manager. But I am not letting them get away with that one. They absolutely bottled it.

    “For the first 65-70 minutes, the penalty aside, I thought we were really, really good and they couldn’t get near us.

    “But all of a sudden Mansfield started going back to front a bit more and we just bottled it, pure and simple. I can’t dress this one up.

    “It is terrible result, there is no other way of putting it, and it is a massive opportunity missed.

    “It was a massive chance to get in the last 16 and I hope Mansfield now get Manchester United away or something like that so our players can see it tomorrow night.”

    Will Swan put the Stags ahead from the penalty spot in the fifth minute but the visitors piled on the pressure and levelled when Jonson Clarke-Harris’ 25-yard free-kick went through the wall and past Pym on the half hour.

    Clarke-Harris swept home a second in the 47th minute but Mansfield raised their game and began to dominate and were rewarded with Akins’ spot-kick success three minutes into added time, before emulating their shoot-out win at Sheffield Wednesday in the previous round.

    Delighted Stags boss Nigel Clough said: “We are into the next round for the first time in nearly 50 years, which is a hell of an achievement, but so is going 12 games unbeaten.

    “For quite long spells we were second best as they were so good. There wasn’t too much we were doing wrong. They were just very competent.

    “The respect they showed us by naming a full side said everything. They are a top side in League One and you can see the big difference, the pace and the speed they move the ball.

    “We just hung on in there, trying not to concede a third goal and at 2-1 anything can happen in the last 20 minutes.

    “I thought the equaliser was coming after Lucas Akins’ goal that was offside. It was no more than we deserved for hanging on in there.

    “We have been good taking penalties in training and at Sheffield Wednesday so we saw no reason why we couldn’t win the shoot-out.”

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.