Analysis
Players to lookout for in the pre-season who could flourish under Max Allegri.
Weston McKennie
Massimiliano Allegri’s teams are known to focus directly on the midfield. You could see that in our runs to the UCL finals in 2014/2015 and 2016/2017 quite evidently. In the 14/15 season, Allegri resorted to a 3 man midfield:
Andrea Pirlo held the role of regista.
Paul Pogba was a ball-carrying playmaker. Arturo Vidal played as a box-to-box mid. (similar to Frank Lampard at his peak with those runs into the box) In 16/17, we could see a 2 man double-pivot involving Miralem Pjanic and Sami Khedira with Paulo Dybala as an advanced no. 10 in the free role. According to the latest speculations, Max is looking to make Weston McKennie his trequartista, who would get the needed positional freedom to cover the field with bombarding runs. In addition, it could help to take the burden off Dybala and Cristiano Ronaldo. Our American magician averaged 0.9 shots per game and had five goals and two assists in 18 league games. He unquestionably is one of the players to watch out for this season.
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Nicolo Fagioli
A man who is known for his obsession with playing a regista or a proper defensive midfielder to occupy the generalismo position, Fagioli fits perfectly into Allegri’s midfield demands. Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised if Nicolo became an undisputed starter in case Juve missed out on Manuel Locatelli. He has pretty good distribution skills and is even dubbed to be the next “Andrea Pirlo” by a group of fans. If he could work on his physique and ball-winning capabilities, he would very likely be a particularly valuable 2nd choice DM/regista for the upcoming season.
Paulo Dybala
Marred by injuries and inconsistencies, La Joya had a season to forget last time around. Yet, he started to work on his fitness a lot earlier when compared to his other compatriots and reporting to pre-season as one of the first players to join the team. Moreover, there is a sense of determination and grit from the Argentine’s side. Reportedly, Allegri already has plans to build the team around Dybala and use him in the starting 11 in a central role. There could be no better time to redeem himself and carry the Del Piero tag on his shoulders to prove others wrong. I expect a stellar season from the Argentine star and can not wait for his revenge season to begin!
Merih Demiral
With finances currently not so favorable for the club, Merih Demiral has been among the scapegoats, who could be the first in line for a transfer elsewhere to fund Locatelli’s transfer. A move away from the club looks more likely for the Turkish international as he demands more playing time. However, an astounding pre-season could shake fortunes a little bit considering Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci are no longer their younger selves. Furthermore, Matthijs de Ligt technically already assured himself a place in the starting XI. That said, I believe Demiral could salvage himself a 3rd choice centre back position and get more minutes under his belt as per his wish.
