Juventus’ draw with Bologna depicted their lack of progress under Max Allegri

We’re not learning anything new about Massimiliano Allegri’s Juventus, and we haven’t for quite some time. 

The returning manager’s iteration of the Bianconeri are a dire watch, and yesterday’s 1-1 draw at home to Bologna was, for me, the starkest depiction of the lack of progress made under Allegri this season.

Now, there are a few mitigating factors in Juve’s ‘woes’. Throughout the first half of the season, the absence of a reliable goalscorer following Cristiano Ronaldo’s late summer exit hamstrung the boss somewhat, while the club’s injury issues since the start of the new year have forced the boss into perpetual reshuffling.

It certainly hasn’t been easy for Allegri on his return to the club, and he deserves credit for lifting Juve to fourth spot in an albeit poor Serie A and within 90 minutes of another Coppa Italia final following their historically poor start to the campaign.

Juventus have not made any progress under Massimiliano Allegri this season

But there’s only so much pragmatism one can take in 2022. The wily traditionalist has refused to change his ways despite having plenty of opportunities to do so, and Juve’s stuttering form after their lengthy but unconvincing 16-game unbeaten run in the league was snapped by Inter Milan in the Derby d’Italia has manifested their limitations.

Andrea Pirlo tried his utmost to inculcate more progressive ideals in Turin during his sole season at the helm. And while the novice coach’s spell at the club was far from perfect, we were treated to sequences that offered glimpses into what the future could be like with Il Maestro in charge.

Remember this goal against Saturday’s opponents, Bologna, in a 4-1 victory on the final day of last season? That’s coaching.

Allegri, too, has overseen performances that have ignited hope within Juventini that he can adopt a more proactive and ‘modern’ approach; one that’s conducive to sustained success at the highest level. For example, Juventus were fantastic in the 4-2 win over Zenit in the Champions League last November, and swashbuckling in their Coppa Italia triumph against Sampdoria.

But the norm for Allegri’s Juve this season has starkly contrasted the fleeting moments of modernity. That norm reared its dull head once more against Bologna on Saturday.

Once again, Juventus struggled to play out under pressure, they lacked any cohesion in possession and were disjointed in the final third. There wasn’t a distinct plan as to how they were going to win the contest, with Allegri once again relying upon individual brilliance (and Bologna losing two players to red cards in the space of 30 seconds) to claim a late point.

On the basis of chances created, you could argue that Juve were good value for the draw. Adrien Rabiot and Matthijs de Ligt both missed from point-blank range before Marko Arnautovic opened the scoring for a spirited Rossublu following a poor defensive sequence from the home side. But the xG (Juve 2.0 – 1.2 Bologna) doesn’t paint a fair picture of the Old Lady’s shoddy showing.

Dusan Vlahovic, who papered over a frustrating evening with a late equaliser, was once again starved of any sufficient service, with an inhibited Juventus opting to cross their way to victory. The Serb is the latest attacking star to struggle under Allegri, following in Dejan Kulusevski and Federico Chiesa’s footsteps. There’s no doubting that Vlahovic himself has to improve in certain areas, but he’s undoubtedly not being helped by the function he’s performing in a system that doesn’t boast any recognisable methods of chance creation.

So, following yet another poor performance in a pretty miserable campaign, the all-important question must arise: Is Max Allegri the right man to lead this Juventus rebuild?

For me, the answer is an emphatic no due to the lack of progression made under his tutelage this season. His emphasis on reinstalling vintage Bianconeri ideals has only worked to a degree with Juve on track to concede just three or four goals less in Serie A than they did under Pirlo last season. And this obsession with grinta and winning ugly has utterly compromised his side’s attacking proficiency. Allegri’s Juve sit joint-seventh in the league with 37 open-play goals, and sixth in terms of open-play xG (34.4).

Their mediocre attacking output this season is a symptom of the manager’s default approach. The Bianconeri aren’t regular high pressers (their 254 high turnovers this season rank ninth in Serie A) and Allegri is often happy to ‘control’ the contest by blocking space in a 4-4-2 mid-block. Thus, their attacking sequences are limited, especially when they take the lead in a game.

The approach, in summary, is so incredibly flawed and the football that Allegri has facilitated this season should be thrown into San Vittore, never to be seen again. Watching Juventus this season is like being chucked into a footballing time machine, and the manager’s limitations, even if drastic personnel improvements are made in the summer, will continue to stricken Juve in 2022/23.

Juventus are light-years off where they want to be and the harsh reality is that the re-hiring of Max Allegri has likely set the club back a year or two in their pursuit of returning to the apex of European football.