Max Allegri ‘thought about resigning’ after loss in Champions League final

10 ago 2017

Juventus boss Max Allegri confirms he thought about resigning after the Old Lady’s defeat in the Champions League final. The Italian tactician, who had been previously linked with a move to Arsenal, wrote in the Players’tribune: “When I got home after that defeat, I had to think hard about whether to continue. I thought about why I had become a manager in the first place. I also thought about my grandfather. He was a hardworking man — a stonemason. When I was a boy, he used to make sure that he was at all my football matches. It didn’t matter if we won or lost. He didn’t give a damn about the football.

He’d say, “Bel gioco, Massi. Ora vuoi andare a vedere i cavalli?”

(“Good game, Massi. Now do you want to go see the horses?”)

He never ever even asked me about the game. He cared only that I was having fun, and that he was there to see me.

These are the values that I have inside me. There’s so much pressure at this level of football, and there should be. But I try to remember why I do this. I don’t think of myself as a manager. I think of myself as a youth coach.

I do this because I love teaching. It is truly the joy of my life. I like making players better and smarter.

So when I thought about this Juventus squad, my decision became quite personal. I know I still have a lot to prove. And I know I still have a lot to teach.

So that night, before I went to bed, I decided that if the club was on board with my strategy and we could move on together, then I would stay on.”