‘Ignore Dybala price-tag’
By Football Italia staff
Massimiliano Allegri won’t be pressured into picking Paulo Dybala for Juventus - “it’s not my problem if they paid €40m.”
Although the forward has played the most minutes of all the Bianconeri attackers, others have been injured, with the former Palermo man often benched when all strikers are fit.
The 21-year-old was in the starting line-up for the win over Atalanta, scoring one and setting up another, but the Coach has no problem dropping him to the bench again.
“I’ll explain this for the second time,” Allegri sighed in his pre-Sassuolo Press conference.
“I’ve said it’s not my problem if they paid €40m, because a Coach doesn’t pick the 11 for his team because one cost €40m and the other cost €3m.
“If the one who they paid €3m for plays better or is more useful than the one who cost €40m… I think the Coach is paid to get results.
“At the end of the game, if one player has played or another has played, it doesn’t change a thing. In the end, Juventus just have to get results. That’s what I’m here for.
“Dybala is a player who has very good quality, but who is also a young lad and has to improve, and has to change roles. And he can become a great player, on that I agree.
“Now we’re talking about intentions, he could play two or three games, he could play in the national team… let’s just take it one game at a time.
“He has to be managed, just as [Alvaro] Morata has to be managed, [Paul] Pogba has to be managed, [Giorgio] Chiellini has to be managed, [Leonardo] Bonucci has to be managed, [Gigi] Buffon has to be managed…
“I think a few weeks ago it was the same stuff: [Juan] Cuadrado, Cuadrado, Cuadrado, Cuadrado… It was as though Juventus couldn’t play without Cuadrado, or Cuadrado would be taken away.
“If he played every game from now until May 16, he’d be taken away in an ambulance. So I have to be able, with a bit of luck, to manage the players.
“That’s what I’m here for, that’s why I started doing this job, and that’s what Coaches are paid to do.”[DOUBLEPOST=1445968371][/DOUBLEPOST]Di Francesco: ‘Juventus have improved’
By Football Italia staff
Sassuolo Coach Eusebio Di Francesco warns “we’ll face a different Juve compared to the beginning of the season.”
The Bianconeri have started the Serie A season poorly, and currently sit eight points off the top of the League, but the Neroverdi boss sees signs of recovery.
“I liked this Juve in the last two games [against Inter and Atalanta],” Di Francesco said in his pre-match Press conference.
“They had great desire to dictate the play, physicality… we’ll face a different Juve compared to the beginning of the season, one in great condition.
“Quite rightly, Juve must try to win every game, they did it last season, never mind now when they need points to climb the table.”
Sassuolo have scored twice against the Old Lady at Mapei Stadium, with both coming from Simone Zaza, now plying his trade in Turin.
“Simone can score an own-goal at best, right?” Di Francesco laughed.
“I must say, he’s done well in recent games, in Milan he impressed me with his physicality. Maybe he didn’t score, but he had a great game.
“That said, we’ll play a great game tomorrow. We’ll think about the performance, and someone will score the goals.”
Di Francesco’s men were defeated by Milan at the weekend, but the Coach saw positive signs from his team.
“I’m sorry that we didn’t bring home a positive result, but we’re aware that we played really well even though we had 10-men.
“At times it seemed like we had equal numbers, we went down at the end, but that can happen as we had given so much.
“Rotation? The Bianconeri are growing, as are we. Compared to the games against Empoli and Chievo we’ve had very positive results.
“The game against Milan was very draining, so we’ll have to evaluate if changes are needed, although we can cope well with two matches so close together, it’s the third we might struggle in.”
[DOUBLEPOST=1445895088][/DOUBLEPOST]Prandelli does not understand the controversy surrounding his recent exclusion.
