Real Madrid get lucky with Allegri
Carlo Garganese
- Updated: 17 Apr 2022 19:21 BST
- 6 min read
Max Allegri was a horse's nose - a 'corto muso' as he would put it himself - from becoming Real Madrid's coach this season.
This time last year, Florentino Perez had chosen the Italian as Zinedine Zidane’s successor. Allegri verbally accepted the offer but then changed his mind before putting pen to paper when Juventus asked him to return to Turin.
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“I had already signed with Real Madrid last summer, but I called Florentino Perez to tell him that I would not go because I had chosen Juventus,” Allegri told Calciomercato.it. “He thanked me. When they called me in May, I had no doubts.
“I have no regrets, it would have been a great professionally: Milan, Juventus, Real Madrid…but you can’t have everything in life. I am proud to have coached Milan for four years and to be at Juventus now.
“I rejected Real Madrid twice. The first time I was in talks to extend with Juventus. I told Florentino that I had already given my word to Agnelli.”
Almost a year on, it is apparent that Real Madrid had a very lucky escape.
Current coach Carlo Ancelotti was way down Perez’s shortlist. He also is unlikely to be the long-term option at the Santiago Bernabeu.
READ MORE: How Pogba could persuade Mbappe to reject Real Madrid
But Ancelotti has done a fantastic job at getting Madrid back on track and developing a team that is still somewhat in a rebuilding phase.
They are romping to La Liga, won the Spanish Super Cup and are into the semi-finals of the Champions League after two epic victories over PSG and champions Chelsea.
He has also taken Karim Benzema to a Ballon d’Or-worthy level and finally turned Vinicius Jr into a star.
Allegri, meanwhile, has been an unmitigated disaster during his second spell at Juventus.
The Italian was supposed to be the returning hero – having won five straight Scudetti in his first spell between 2014 and 2019 – to rescue the club after they finished a dismal fourth under novice Andrea Pirlo last season.
But this season has been even worse – despite the fact that Allegri is on a four-year contract worth €7-9 million a year, compared to Pirlo’s €1.5m.
With five games to go, Allegri is also battling for fourth with a tough run-in. Indeed, Allegri needs to win all five of his remaining games just to equal Pirlo’s points tally from last season.
Like Pirlo, he was also knocked out in the Champions League last-16, humiliated 3-0 at home in the second leg by Villarreal.
Allegri could still win the Coppa Italia, with Juventus in the semis, but that will be the only trophy he can get his hands on. Pirlo won two, lifting the Super Cup as well.
The fact Allegri has performed even worse than Pirlo is damning, given the midfield legend was widely painted as a laughing stock.
Despite losing Cristiano Ronaldo, Allegri has had a stronger squad at his disposal (over €100m was spent on Dusan Vlahovic, Manuel Locatelli and Denis Zakaria) and has been playing in a weaker league. Champions Inter lost their two best players (Romelu Lukaku and Achraf Hakimi) and their inspirational coach Antonio Conte, Milan also lost key stars and have been uninspired at times, while Atalanta have fallen away this term.
There have been no improvements at all since the start of the season, either collectively or individually. Juventus play a dour brand of largely counter-attack football that has next to no cohesion, chemistry or identity. There are no patterns of play, no multi-passing moves, very little pressing or progressive football.
It is all rather outdated with Allegri playing the same football that was seen as too old-fashioned and rigid back in his final two seasons of his first spell, leading to his sacking in 2019.
He returned after two years out of the game, during which football has changed inexorably, to play exactly the same style of football.
Retaining Pirlo wasn’t an option really, but Allegri should never have been the solution.
The stats back that up. With 49 goals in 32 games, Juventus are the lowest scorers in the top half of Serie A. They regularly have less possession than their opponents. During their dismal 1-1 draw with Bologna at home on Sunday, they had just 40% possession in the first half. They have the worst home record in the top seven in Serie A and they failed to beat a single top-four team all season.
Allegri’s mentality has infuriated fans. He regularly talks about how his team needs to defend better, rather than attack better and score more goals. He refuses to give youngsters from the club’s successful youth team a chance, saying they “lack maturity of 28-year-olds” and “must serve their apprenticeship in Serie C” first. He has often played a flat 4-4-2 with central midfielders as wide midfielders and full backs as central midfielders.
What has #Allegri achieved this season?
Individually there has been no improvement, collectively there has been no improvement.
So tell me why he is the highest paid coach in #SerieA? Who was also brought the leagues top scorer in January…— Elio Salerno (@eliosalerno87) April 16, 2022
It is no surprise that Allegri has earned the nickname of ‘Dinosaur’ with many Juventus fans, nor is it a surprise that the hashtag #AllegriOut has trended numerous times in recent weeks on social media.
There is little chance of Allegri getting sacked, unless Juve do fail to finish in the top four, because of his huge multi-year salary.
But if Roma beat Napoli on Monday, they will go three points behind Juventus with five games to play. And who would bet against Jose Mourinho?
Allegri has a habit of changing his mind at the last minute. Thirty years ago he infamously didn't turn up on the day of his wedding.
Real Madrid can thank their lucky stars he left them waiting at the altar, too.
