Numbers in hand, even Danilo, Szczesny, Locatelli and Cuadrado are the pillars of a team that is shedding its skin, giving more and more space to the new recruits. And Alex Sandro…
Ninety-eight formations in ninety-eight games: if it’s not a record, we’re close. Certainly Allegri does not lack imagination: finding all the possible combinations does not seem like an easy game. But Max, in his second (current) two-year period at black and white, did it. The coach from Livorno then elected his totem, finding in the French Adrien Rabiot his footballer-symbol. Not only due to the perception of an impressive growth, which has made him central to the Juventus project in recent months, but also due to the numbers that put everything on an objective level: the Frenchman is the player who has played the most minutes in these two years, 6736, as well as more appearances (84) together with Cuadrado, who, however, has put his legs in his legs for 5902 minutes.
ACCOUNTS IN HAND
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The numbers don’t lie: the second most used by Allegri in his Juventus bis is Danilo, 6500 minutes for the Brazilian. Szczesny (6387) and Locatelli (6040) anticipate Cuadrado, thus outlining the columns of a team that is shedding its skin, giving more and more space to the new recruits. With a necessary prerequisite: inside yes, but at the right time, with balance and with the necessary maturation times between one opportunity and another, avoiding as much as possible the risk of remaining in disproportionate pressures. Within those 4980 minutes granted so far to young players from 2001 onwards, without considering Gatti (1550 minutes played) who arrived from Serie B last summer, there is material for anyone wishing to deepen the trust Allegri has granted to young players (in official matches) from summer 2021 to today, even if the figure seems to still be able to grow a lot by the end of the season. To date, the average is 4.6 games for every young player who has played minutes in the first team, with a total of twelve Under 22s.
MORE PRESENT
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Vlahovic, who is born in 2000 like Kean and therefore is not included in the count of young players, has played 4186 minutes since January last year: the challenge that Allegri must win now is to get the Serbian unblocked and put him back on the fast track to scoring. A few weeks ago, the coach compared him to Cristiano Ronaldo and last season’s Rabiot: it seems that Dusan, thanks to those words, has begun to feel less weight on his shoulders and is starting to loosen up more. “It’s a path, I’m happy with how he’s working,” explained Max. Who is betting on him, obviously, in the next decisive cup matches, both with Inter in the Italian Cup and with Sevilla in the Europa League. Only Alex Sandro did better than Vlahovic, counting the minutes, with half a season more: the change of role this year has consolidated his position in the squad, so he will renew for another year. The top ten of the most used players in the last two years ends with Bonucci, De Ligt and McKennie. In the wake comes Bremer.
April 25 – 1.50pm
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