MY ACCOUNT
Massimiliano Allegri says Juventus will look to bring more experienced players into the squad ahead of the 2022-23 campaign.
Juve’s disappointing season ended with a whimper on Saturday as they slumped to a 2-0 defeat to Fiorentina at the Artemio Franchi.
Alfred Duncan opening the scoring for a Fiorentina side who were far and away the superior team, before a late penalty from Nicolas Gonzalez finished the Bianconeri off.
It was the first time Fiorentina have won a Serie A home clash against Juventus since January 2017.
The game marked the end of Giorgio Chiellini, Paulo Dybala and Federico Bernardeschi’s Juve careers, and Allegri acknowledged that the club, who have been linked with free transfer moves for Paul Pogba and Angel Di Maria, will need to replace their experience.
“I am happy because we have unity of purpose,” he told Sky Sport Italia. “We have many players, several will have to leave. Chiellini has stopped, Bernardeschi and Dybala are at the end of their contracts.
“Then there is the transfer market, but everything must be done calmly and clearly. The team must be arranged calmly.
“In the 11 there are already young people, we have five. [Dusan] Vlahovic, [Manuel] Locatelli, [Matthijs] De Ligt, [Federico] Chiesa, and then [Fabio] Miretti is playing well.
“The team grows, it is normal that a mix is needed within the team otherwise with all young people it is more difficult to win.
“Experience is needed. We will need balance in the team.”
Juve ended the Serie A season with eight fewer points than they did under the leadership of Andrea Pirlo in his maiden campaign, yet Allegri believes that is not a true representation of what he has achieved since he returned to the club.
“There is a psychological aspect because we had to chase from the start and knew once we lost to Inter and had secured fourth place, the results after that didn’t entirely reflect the team and are somewhat false,” he added.
“After that push to get back, once the motivation was lacking, we lost intensity.
“We also know that we need to score more goals, play with more intensity, we have to keep the good things from this season and improve those that didn’t work as well.”
