MAX ALLEGRI: TRAPPED IN HIS OWN IDEAS

After becoming the youngest manager since Mancini to win a Serie A title in 2011 with AC Milan (later surpassed by Conte), and experiencing the golden five-year period with Juventus from 2014 to 2019—during which he won five league titles, two Italian Super Cups, and four Italian Cups—Max Allegri is now undergoing an unprecedented decline. Welcomed back to Juventus a year and a half ago as a saviour, expected to begin a new winning cycle, he is today regarded as the main (and by some, the sole) culprit of Juventus’s failure.

This article aims to explore one of the reasons for this decline, focusing less on his lack of tactical innovation and more on the communicative aspect. Indeed, these two years of inactivity have revealed a completely different man. The confident, convincing, almost cocky attitude he once displayed in press conferences has been replaced by a man who is evidently confused, weakened, and lacking certainty. Perhaps this is because the team bears little resemblance to what he envisioned at the end of the transfer market, or perhaps because he has become imprisoned by the structure he himself built over the years. He has long championed an extremely simplified, almost banal approach to football, often in opposition to the “theorists” of the game, yet always bolstered by solid foundations of consistent victories. Now, as soon as those victories are absent, the entire edifice crumbles miserably, leaving him to fight a battle that has become more philosophical than tactical, one which has gradually eroded his personality.

He now appears as a lost man, one who has lost the joy of his profession and has transmitted this sense of disheartenment to his players, who have regressed and become resigned. It is hard to remember a time when Allegri complained about his players, found constant excuses—chief among them injuries—and failed to acknowledge failure. Even his greatest strength, his ability to adapt to any situation and to bring out the best in his players, seems to have been lost.

Further exacerbating this situation is an intense environment in which winning, especially in recent years, has become the norm. Additionally, it is well known that in football, fans often prioritise emotions and immediate feelings over rationality and objectivity, placing high-profile figures on a constant rollercoaster where one day they are heroes, and the next, failures. Carlo Ancelotti went through a similar process, considered finished after his time at Napoli and Everton, only to lead Real Madrid to European glory within a year and reclaim his legendary status.

Ultimately, however, the field, as always, will give the final answer. Time will tell if Allegri has the strength and skills needed to overturn a situation that seems already defined.

By Andrea Dapavo