Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri was unhappy with his side’s performance against Venezia on Saturday and feels that they “threw away two points” against the Venetian side.
He also claimed his side “don’t realise when to play ugly” and says it’s been a recurring theme for them this season.
The Bianconeri missed Federico Chiesa, Dejan Kulusevski, Weston McKennie, Danilo and Aaron Ramsey due to injury. Arthur was dropped from the squad as a disciplinary measure after turning up late to training the day before the game.
The Old Lady couldn’t muster enough vim upfront and played out a drab 1-1 draw with Venezia, who were more than happy to take the draw and point.
Paulo Dybala limped off the pitch 12 minutes into the game to cause more headaches for Max Allegri. His exit also dulled the attack as Juventus could not finish the few chances they created.
Speaking on the issue after the game, Allegri said: “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.”
Dybala’s replacement, Kaio Jorge, missed a chance to get Juventus ahead, while Juan Cuadrado and Thomas Henry flashed wide of the post as well.
Morata eventually broke the deadlock, tapping in from a Luca Pellegrini low cross to beat Sergio Romero, who had produced a fine stop to deny the Spanish striker and Federico Bernardeschi earlier, in the Venezia goal.
Venezia would come out firing on all cylinders after the break to equalise and steal a point from the game as Juventus continued to play timid football.
After the game, Allegri was asked if a top four finish was still realistic for Juventus this season.
“We mustn’t think about that,” he said. “We threw away two points today, two points we should’ve brought home.”
Allegri displeased with the performance
The Italian manager went on to talk about the game in a critical way.
“It was a good first half, we created chances, but then had this 10-15-minute blackout before the Venezia goal,” Allegri began.
“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.
“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.”
