SAN FRANCISCO, December 05, (THEWILL) – Massimiliano Allegri, former manager of Italian giants, Juventus, has admitted that he nurses the desire to be the next foreign coach to take the English Premier League by storm.
The 53-year-old has not taken another job since leaving the Allianz Stadium in 2019. This has afforded him plenty free time to observe managers like Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho impress in England’s top tier.
When he spoke recently with The Times, Allegri opined that because of the multi-cultural nature of its coaches, English football had improved greatly. He also revealed his hopes to attempt leading a Premier League side in the near future.
“For me, English football is improving now because there are a lot of foreign trainers. There are more tactics compared to ten years ago.
“England now is more sophisticated, and more tactical, but is also respecting the tradition of English football. It’s a good balance of the spirit of English football and the new quality and new tactical approach of the new coaches.
“I would like to experience the Premier League. In Italy, I was in Milan four years. Five years in Juventus. Now I expect [to work again] in Italy, but it is difficult, or in England.”
Before this admission, the Italian coach has been linked with a whole host of English sides since he left Juventus. Vacancies in the managerial positions in Manchester and London after their long-term managers Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger exited made links to Manchester United or Arsenal perhaps stronger than most.
Allegri confessed that he was learning English in the hope of boosting his chances in the EPL even as he remained mum on where he would like to land specifically.
What was obvious from his comments was that he was clearly well-informed about goings-on in the EPL and he appeared to know the key to success in England.
“The important thing is every country has its own history. England is different from Italy, which is different from Spain, from Germany. It’s difficult to change the history of the country.
“It’s difficult to change the history of the club. For example, Manchester United played for 50 years the same style. When [Louis] Van Gaal arrived, he had a different mentality. Van Gaal wants to play with possession. But Manchester United are ‘get in the box, attack, attack, cross, cross’.
“Arsenal are different to United. In Italy, the same, Juventus different to Milan. The history of Juventus was every year with one big player for the team, [Zinedine] Zidane, [Alessandro] Del Piero, [Omar] Sivori, [Michel] Platini with other players to work every day hard [alongside]. In Milan it is different.”
Allegri won five league titles with Juventus in the five years he was at the helm, from 2014 to 2019.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
