Opinions
Opinion: No point in waiting, eat the money and sack Allegri now
Max Allegri has completely sucked the pride and passion out of being a Juventus supporter. I thought things were bad during his final year at the club without Champions League success and with Juventus seeing their new expensive purchase in Cristiano Ronaldo scoring his lowest goal tally in years, the writing was on the wall. It was obvious at the time that change was going to come and Allegri would move on at the end of that season, which he did. The only problem is that there has never been a proper replacement.
Pirlo was the perfect option at the time as his low wages made him easily dispensable, which is what they did. In my opinion, it was too soon to replace him with Max Allegri and for the wages, he’s on, it appears the coach is here to stay. Or is he? Last week during Giorgio Chiellini’s final match for Juventus, post-game saw the club honor the long-time captain with his teammates, family, and management, including Juventus President Andrea Agnelli, with a lovely video tribute. Something interesting happened during that presentation when cameras were pointed at Agnelli, he was relentlessly booed, geared, and whistled, as he stood there stunned before the director quickly cut to an image of the stadium.
Agnelli being stunned for me was a good thing as he must now know this club and all the global interest he worked so hard to achieve in the previous decade is starting to slip away. Much like in Allegri’s final season with the club during his first stint, some of the most loyal supporters of the club just aren’t going to take it anymore. So what is there to do? Sack a coach who you brought back on a mega-contract? Absolutely. The pride is gone, and I fear no matter how many big-name signings this club makes, this summer, things will not change and it will be much of the same. Better to eat approximately €27M and move on before the start of next season. No supporter of the club would be against it, as it’s obvious anyone, including a rookie manager like Andrea Pirlo, could have had a better season than Allegri just had.
This would be the biggest decision the club has made in years, but it’s worth it. Allegri’s brand of football is bad for the brand of Juventus, and in this new day in age where high-end players are expected to use their flair and skill to be game-changers. Allegri has sucked all the talent out of the game to the point where when Juventus was down 1-0 at the end of the first half of last night’s match against Fiorentina, I decided I had had enough and went to play golf while the game was still ongoing. The only question left is how many others have done the same? If it’s what I think it is, then for the sake of everything, Allegri has to go now, before it’s too late and he does irreversible damage.
