Juventus have appointed former AC Milan manager Massimiliano Allegri as head coach. He will replace Antonio Conte, who resigned via a YouTube message on Tuesday evening.
Massimiliano Allegri to replace Antonio Conte at Juventus
Former Milan coach takes charge of the Old Lady following Antonio Conte’s surprise resignation.
Claudio Villa
Allegri has big shoes to fill. Conte, a former Juventus player, has led the bianconeri to the title for the last three consecutive seasons. It is he that Juventus fans credit for the turnaround in the club, the one that led them from the post-calciopoli horrors to their more familiar comfort zone, standing at the top of Serie A.
But Conte no longer felt he could do the job at Juventus. In his resignation, he mentioned that needing to win all the time was "tiring," and the feeling is that he is upset with the running of the club, with the fact that club will not spend more without selling the likes of Arturo Vidal and Paul Pogba.
And so in comes Allegri -- to the horror of many Juventus fans and the glee of the rest of Serie A. Max Allegri took Milan to the scudetto in 2011, the same year he was appointed, but since then the club have stagnated. Allegri was sacked midway through last season, with the rossoneri ultimately finishing outside the European places.
It's easy to see why fans would not be thrilled with this appointment. In addition to Milan's failure to make much of an impression recently, Allegri simply doesn't have what it takes to be a top coach. He is competent, sure, but plays functional, unimaginative football. Add to that the fact that he is thought to be the main reason Andrea Pirlo was pushed out of Milan -- only to become a hero with Juventus -- and Allegri certainly does not appeal.
But again, he is competent. And with the core available at Juventus, he’ll be able to keep the team competitive. As to whether they’ll be winning their fourth straight title, or playing in the Champions League final ... that’s looking a lot less likely.
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