Prior to last summer, Juventus had executed a carefully considered plan for slow, organic growth. Amassing an incredible array of young talent, the Bianconeri had built a squad capable of dominating Serie A for years, while continually stating their mission was to become regulars in the last eight of the Champions League.
From the start of their winning cycle in 2012, even the loss of iconic veteran players like Alessandro Del Piero, Andrea Pirlo or Gigi Buffon could not slow them down, the trophies continuing to land as new faces like Paulo Dybala and Rodrigo Bentancur stepped up to fill the void.
Then, the opportunity to sign Cristiano Ronaldo arrived.
It was the kind of chance nobody could have foreseen, but it was also one the club could not afford to pass up. It’s not every day that a generational talent falls into your lap, and it opened a window for European success that the grand Old Lady of Italian football knew she must do everything she could to capitalize upon.
Out went that methodical, calculated approach and in came a new way of thinking, every move geared towards delivering Champions League glory during the last remaining seasons of Ronaldo’s peak. With their Portuguese megastar already 33 years old when he inked his contract in Turin, it was effectively injecting a €112 million “win now” shot directly into Juve’s veins, the consequences be damned.
Mattia Caldara—arguably Italy’s brightest defensive prospect at the age of 24—was sent to A.C. Milan to facilitate the return of Leonardo Bonucci, 31, while the Bianconeri invested another €40.4 million on right-back João Cancelo. Emre Can came in from Liverpool, an out-of-contract “free transfer” that cost the club another €16 million in “additional costs,” and backup goalkeeper Mattia Perin was brought from Genoa in a €12 million deal.
Statement of Intent
“It will be a difficult year, a year where we have to go after our dream,” President Andrea Agnelli told the players during their traditional preseason visit to his family home back in August. “The Champions League has to be the aim this year. We must win the Champions League, Serie A, and the Italian Cup. To achieve this goal, you have to work hard daily to get to the end of the year and reap the rewards. It will be an extremely difficult year, full of passion, and I cannot wait for it to start.”
That he said the words “the Champions League has to be the aim” left no doubt as to what was expected of Max Allegri, the coach tasked with realizing the club’s dream. As the campaign began and early teething problems were overcome, it seemed he was the perfect man to accomplish something Juve had not managed in 23 years.
Vialli lifting the Champions League Cup as Juve captain in 1996 pic.twitter.com/2fwaOIHAOB
— David Amoyal (@DavidAmoyal) July 9, 2013
Not since 1996 have Juventus been crowned Europe’s best side—losing five finals along the way!—and wins over Valencia and Manchester United began to show hope that dry spell could end. With a 3-1 thrashing of closest domestic rivals Napoli thrown in for good measure, even a few defensive lapses did not prevent the Bianconeri from becoming favorites at almost every bookmaker on the planet.
Then Allegri fell back on old habits. One-nil ahead against United in Turin and completely bossing the game, he sent on Andrea Barzagli to protect the lead rather than trying to kill the game, and 10 minutes later all three points were lost as the English side grabbed two late goals.
Paralyzed by Fear
In a game against Jose Mourinho, it was somehow Allegri who took the more negative approach and it could be argued that his team have never recovered. Sure, there are plenty of positives, not least of which is an unassailable 16-point lead at the top of Serie A which all but guarantees another Scudetto for the Old Lady’s collection.
Under normal circumstances, that would be cause for celebration in and of itself, but the club did not spend a record fee (or smash its previously rigid wage structure) to sign Ronaldo merely to improve the visibility of the brand or extend their social media reach.
Too many players in starting XI who shouldn’t have been
— Adam Digby (@Adz77) February 20, 2019
Way too cautious in their approach
Far too many who go missing in big away games
No real shift in approach from the bench with like-for-like subs
Very poor from #Juventus in every single facet of the game #AtletiJuve
Even the dourest Serie A performances—October’s draw with Genoa or last week’s turgid 1-0 win over Bologna—and crashing out of the Coppa Italia at the hands of Atalanta could be shrugged off if they were the result of concentrating on Europe. But sadly they were not. They were instead simply a continuation of that loss to Manchester United, of a coach gripped so much by the fear of losing that it stopped his team from being able to go out and win.
Here, let’s take a moment to note that this is not, despite what those on social media might insist, how the coach has always been. During the course of his almost five-year tenure, Allegri has overseen some incredible victories and his team have delivered a string of impressive performances that deserve immense credit.
All-Time Great
A haul of four consecutive league-and-cup doubles and two European finals will see Allegri remembered alongside Marcello Lippi and Giovanni Trapattoni as the most successful men to ever lead the club, while resounding results against Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid should never be forgotten.
But, as President Andrea Agnelli so openly admitted, the Champions League was the aim this season and Allegri has made too many mistakes in that competition. In truth, even that caution against United would’ve been forgiven if he’d got things right against Atletico Madrid in the last-16, but even before the first leg kicked off, the negativity had taken control.
After Ronaldo, Cancelo has been Juve’s most dangerous weapon, his pace and running on the ball making every counterattack infinitely more lethal. Yet when he named his starting XI at the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano, the Portuguese flyer was on the bench in favor of the more defensive Mattia De Sciglio and the largely ineffective Alex Sandro.
Cancelo inizia a scaldare i motori #NapoliJuve pic.twitter.com/GcOpHDrGGl
— VecchiaSignora.com (@forumJuventus) March 3, 2019
Juve went on to lose 2-0, extending Diego Simone’s record of having never lost against an Italian team (five wins, two draws) since taking charge of Los Colchoneros back in December 2011. Considering that 81 percent of teams who win a first leg at home by that scoreline in Champions League knockout rounds have progressed to the next stage and Juve have now failed to score in three meetings with Atleti under Allegri, that lead is arguably as large as the one the Bianconeri enjoy at the top of the Serie A standings.
Change of Tone
It is also a result that has led to intense speculation that there will be a coaching change in Turin this summer. Perhaps, after five years, that was almost inevitable. It is a long time to listen to the same voice and to play under the same conditions, but the need for something different is beginning to become almost inescapable.
There is a clear change of tone from all parties. Sporting director Fabio Paratici said “of course he stays. I do not really see a better coach,” when La Gazzetta dello Sport asked about Allegri's future on Feb. 12, but told Sky Italia that “we’ll all sit down together at the end of the season and decide what to do” last weekend.
A report in @CorSport reveals “tension and friction” between Juve boss Max Allegri and President Andrea Agnelli, and an “increasingly difficult relationship” pic.twitter.com/7GCadYloQO
— Chloe Beresford (@ChloeJBeresford) March 7, 2019
Meanwhile the man himself told a recent press conference that he is “very happy to be at Juventus, but it takes two to reach an agreement.” Allegri’s future was placed under even further scrutiny by the Italian press this week, the Corriere dello Sport going with the story shown in the tweet above while others discussed possible replacements for the Livorno native.
Antonio Conte has been mentioned, but—despite his obvious quality and his incredible transformation of Juve in the past—his lack of of European success surely makes that option a non-starter. The other name in the frame is Zinedine Zidane, another former Bianconeri star and, more pertinently, the coach who has won the Champions League in each of the past three seasons.
Former Real Madrid supremo Ramon Calderon has revealed that the Frenchman has already rejected a chance to return to the Bernabeu, telling the BBC that “this morning the president [Florentino Perez] called Zidane to ask him back, he said ‘Not now.’” His lack of experience coaching in Italy means the appointment would be no guarantee, but it is arguable that the worst he could be is something akin to Pep Guardiola’s tenure at Bayern Munich.
Either way, it would be a positive move for a club who appear desperate to shake off the shackles of both their coach’s natural caution and their own repeated failure to secure success in the one competition they are desperate to win.
The only alternative is for Allegri to somehow shed the caution that has besieged him in the past few months and unleash his team the way he did when they beat Barca 3-0 at Juventus Stadium or smashed Dortmund by that same scoreline at the Westfalenstadion. Even then, if he doesn’t ultimately win the Champions League, it’s likely that a new boss will arrive in the summer in hope of achieving that goal.
Parting ways with Allegri – a bona fide club legend – will not be easy, but events of the past few months show it might sadly be necessary. One way or another, it’s time for a change.
Adam Digby is an Italian football writer for FourFourTwo, The Independent, and elsewhere. Author of "Juventus: A History In Black & White." Follow Adam on Twitter.