Allegri: Juventus still prone to blackouts during games

Just when it looked like Juventus were starting to build up a head of steam and putting together some wins, they faltered again, flailing about rudderless after the departure of Paulo Dybala early on in their game at Venezia. Massimiliano Allegri’s side looked completely clueless in the second half and the hosts got an early deserved equalizer as Juve had nothing else in store.

Speaking after the game, Allegri provided an update on Dybala’s latest injury.

“We ran a risk and it went badly. He went off on Wednesday with a muscular issue, we hoped he was better now, but that was not the case.”

This Bianconeri squad has been prone to spells where they simply forget how to play football, and struggled with another phase like that today as well.

“It was a good first half, we created chances, but then had this 10-15-minute blackout before the Venezia goal. The same thing happened in Salerno, we were lucky then not to concede as they hit the post, so it’s something we clearly need to work on.

“We were under pressure, couldn’t play the ball to feet anymore, so we should’ve had patience with one or two balls over the top to the strikers, take some of the pressure off and let the moment pass, but we didn’t do that.

“We had to attack the space, force them into fouls and more yellow cards, but we threw away two points against a good Venezia.”

When pressed for more details, Allegri added -

“At the start of the second half we were sort of wandering about, giving the ball straight back. Sometimes we don’t realise the game is getting ‘ugly’ and we don’t read the moment. Once that moment passed, we started playing again and pinned Venezia back into their own half, but the damage was done.

“We have players without a great deal of experience, as it was practically Kaio Jorge’s first ‘start’ and others too. The whole team was a bit sluggish after the restart. We can’t seem to realise when it’s the time to play pretty and those 10-15 minutes we ought to play ugly, grit our teeth and push through.”

Juve had worked their way to the top of the chasing pack outside the top four, but it appears they simply don’t have what it would take to break into that quartet for Champions League spots.

“We mustn’t think about that. We threw away two points today, two points we should’ve brought home.”