Capello defends Massimiliano Allegri

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Former Juventus coach Fabio Capello feels “sad” for Massimiliano Allegri and insists that the Italian tactician “deserves respect” for what he has achieved in his career.

Allegri is on the verge of being sacked by Juventus with two Serie A games remaining this season. The Italian tactician raged against club officials, referees and journalists on Wednesday evening. Capello explained Allegri’s reaction in his latest interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport. “The figures are important, and the figures show that Juventus didn’t win anything for three years, and then they lifted a cup again with Massimiliano Allegri. I was surprised by Allegri’s reaction because I don’t think it is anger that comes from competitiveness. There’s more to it than that. When you feel that the air around you has changed, it’s not easy to carry on and pretend that everything is normal. You hope that rumors are just rumors until you realize that it was all true. Juventus hasn’t played in Europe even though Allegri led the team into the Champions League by finishing third a year ago. The only thing more he could have done was win the title, but the team wasn’t equipped to compete with Inter. Juventus have a good team, but are inferior to Inter and AC Milan. Expectations at Juventus are very high. That said, the club decided to change him a year before the end of his contract, so obviously there’s other factors. I think Juventus has taken a different direction since Giuntoli was appointed. He was also criticized when he won titles and accused of not playing well. Allegri deserves respect, his career speaks for itself. I won’t discuss the details, I’ll just say that it would be a very sad end to history. Firing a coach before the end of the season is not part of Juventus’s history,” declared the former Juventus, Roma and AC Milan coach.