“It would be crazy to fire Allegri at this point in the season. He has a project here at Juventus to develop over the next four years,”
said Maurizio Arrivabene, member of the Turin club's administrative board.
This statement made at the microphone of
DAZN
a few hours before the setback of the Bianconeri against Monza on Sunday (1-0), during the 7th day of Serie A, did not help to calm the ardor of the tifosi.
Worse still, these words have brought to light a glaring observation: the Turin crisis is also transposed into the offices of the management.
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Disappointing results
With ten points taken in seven days (2 wins, 4 draws, 1 loss), Juventus made a start to the season far from their usual standards.
Only 8th in the championship, tied on points with their rival Torino, the Bianconeri are going through a real identity crisis with two losses in two Champions League matches (Paris, Benfica).
Between the aging executives, the multiplication of injuries and the irregularity of new players, the Turin system has lost all efficiency and coherence.
If he does not
"feel in danger"
, Allegri is in the sights of several people at the club, starting with his players, in particular Angel Di Maria.
The Argentinian already stood out on Wednesday against Benfica when, at the final whistle, he complained to his teammate Arkadiusz Milik about the Italian coach's choice to replace the Pole (70th), the one of the only satisfactions of Juve at the start of the season.
Facing Monza on Sunday, the former Parisian nudged Armande Izzo violently, a logical expulsion which left Juve outnumbered for more than 50 minutes.
The expulsion of Di Maria against Monza, a symbol of internal dysfunction.
ALBERTO LINGRIA / REUTERS
Difficult to integrate a hint of consistency in the situation of the Bianconeri when Massimiliano Allegri constantly changes devices.
A 3-5-2 in the Champions League for a 4-4-2 or a 4-3-3 in the league.
This handicaps the defensive integration of Gleison Bremer or the installation of offensive automatisms around Dusan Vlahovic.
This Juventus lacks leaders and thus collective to regain its regular domination of yesteryear.
A standoff between leaders
History to make this crisis even more total: even the leaders are in deep disagreement on the path to take in the coming weeks.
And the internal philosophy of the Old Lady does not help to find solutions since no real leader seems to take precedence over the colleagues.
Today, it is difficult to determine who is at the helm of this sinking ship.
The management is made up of several thinkers: Andrea Agnelli is still the president and owner of the club, although he has been more and more discreet in the media in recent years.
Federico Cherubini officially plays the role of sporting director, while Maurizio Arrivabene, a member of the club's administrative board and former manager of Scuderia Ferrari in Formula 1, seems to be the one who speaks most often in front of the press to defend sporting decisions. .
Last strongman of the Turin offices: legend Pavel Nedved has been promoted to vice-president of Juventus.
This operation without a real leader is symptomatic of the club's concerns.
While Arrivabene continues to go to the front to defend Massimiliano Allegri, others like Nedved officially want to turn the page and find a new tactician.
After the defeat against Monza, none of these men spoke to the journalists present in Lombardy.
But the latest information shows that the time is not (yet) for change.
Allegri is maintained and will try to find a way out of the maze in which everyone, coach, team and leaders, seems imprisoned.
A contractual hiccup
If the trend is status quo in Turin, the coach's situation remains complicated: what would happen, economically, if Juventus decided to sack the native coach of Livorno?
When he returned to Juventus in May 2021, Massimiliano Allegri had reached a deal that ran until 2025 worth 7 million euros net (about 12.95 million euros gross).
Considering the three months already elapsed this season, Allegri has not yet received nearly 19 million euros net from his contract, including 5 for the rest of the year and 14 for the next two seasons, for a gross value of around 36 million euros: this is the amount that Juventus should pay the coach in the event of an exemption.
A figure that the club could already rule out for the financial year to June 30, 2022 (with an expected loss of around 250 million) if the exemption arrives before the final approval of the budget.
From left to right: Federico Cherubini-Pavel Nedved-Maurizio Arrivabene www.imagephotoagency.it / PANORAMIC
An approach that would help to respect the challenges of financial fair play, given that the cost of the exemption would be in a budget not included among those of the next UEFA analysis.
Juventus can record a cumulative budget deficit of up to €60m over the three years between 2023-24 and 2025-26.
Read alsoMore flexible, but more targeted, UEFA is reforming Financial Fair Play
First names circulating
Logically, the transalpine press was quick to launch many rumors for the identity of a successor long awaited by the tifosi, after the explosion of “#AllegriOut” on social networks.
At the top of the list, Thomas Tuchel, recently dismissed by the Chelsea board, represents an almost utopian dream due to the delicate economic situation previously explained.
Other names mentioned by the daily
La Repubblica
: that of Igor Tudor, currently on the OM bench, whom the Turin management would like to repatriate next June.
Long coveted, Roberto De Zerbi joined Brighton this week to replace Graham Potter.
Without a club since leaving Leipzig, Domenico Tedesco is one of the favorites among the tifosi.
The internal solution, which leads straight to the name of Paolo Montero, would remain the most realistic but also the most credible for his sense of belonging to the club - an aspect that the team seems to be missing a little too much in recent weeks.
A choice that supporters would welcome in this moment of crisis.
The former defender, now at the head of the Primavera team (Hope), is recognized as one of the most representative men of the DNA of Juventus.