Allegri: Dybala will improve with better fitness levels

Juventus took 80 minutes to break down hosts Frosinone, but Cristiano Ronaldo popped up with the breakthrough before Federico Bernardeschi killed it off in time added on. After the game, a relieved Massimiliano Allegri acknowledged it was going to take patience to win today.

“We expected it to be like this. Frosinone had conceded five to Sampdoria and we played down to 10 men for 70 minutes against Valencia on Wednesday.

“We just needed to have patience and after many shots, crosses and passes, we found the breakthrough.”

Multiple regular starters were rested as Allegri opted to give Emre Can the start in midfield.

“The idea was to give width, but that wasn’t happening, so I put Miralem Pjanic further forward for Emre Can to cover the defence and push Juan Cuadrado further up.

“Federico Bernardeschi then came on very well, we held the ball in more dangerous areas and eventually got the goals we needed.

“With Emre Can in front of the defence, you can afford two midfielders with more quality.”

Paulo Dybala had a quiet game despite finally starting.

“He needs to play. I’ve said since he arrived that his best physical quality is his running, so he needs to play and to move. He had some good moves today, controlling on the edge of the box where there was traffic, but he needs to run at defenders and he’ll do that once his fitness levels improve.

“Dybala has no need to feel this performance anxiety. You can be the best player in the world, but if you’re not at 100 per cent mentally, the others will get to the ball faster. Mario Mandzukic is always first to the ball, but today he was a little less sharp because of fatigue, it’s natural.”

Juventus now sit top of the Serie A table with five wins in five games.

“Napoli had over 90 points last season, so of course it’s natural they’d still be doing well, especially after bringing in a talented and experienced Coach.

“The others are a little far behind, so we right now need to step on the gas and create a gap before we have the head-to-head clashes.”