Prandelli: "How Juve is growing and what Vlahovic needs. Allegri is right"

Interview with the former national team coach: "In the youth sectors we ask for defenders, triangles, supports and the boys are not left free to express their attacking instincts"

Cesare Prandelli responds while watching "his" match, Fiorentina-Atalanta , which flows through the game and the goals while we talk about the championship that unfolds in the weekend preceding the first day of the Cup. A championship that has probably already found a master. « Eh... It's not difficult to argue that it's Inter: they have running, quality, a deep squad with 20 starters. It combines the youth of some elements - from Frattesi to Thuram - with the experience of others like Mkhitaryan. He has freshness and physical strength: at this moment he is demonstrating that he is aware of his own quality ."

Behind the Nerazzurri is Juve: can they be the alternative for the Scudetto? « Allegri is right to maintain that the situation will have to be evaluated after December: there is something very interesting in Juventus' growth process. The team knows how to feel good on the pitch, they are growing in confidence and if those two up front continue their virtuous path... ».

Those two up front are Vlahovic and Chiesa, obviously, just as Lautaro and Thuram determine the destinies of Inter and Osimhen did for those of Napoli. Here: while waiting to understand which team is definitively in control of the championship, we can say without fear of contradiction that it is always the attackers who decide on the pitch... «Ah, but the history of football says this: you can play well, organize the team, invent solutions, but if you don't have someone who implements it becomes complicated. I have been insisting on this aspect regarding our football for some time: we are wasting years and wasting talent because instead of freeing instinct and talent we are tying it up in tactics: in the youth sectors we ask for supports, triangles, supports and we don't leave the boys free to express their attacking instincts ."

Vlahovic's first goal against Lazio is a synthesis of talent and instinct, don't you think? « Absolutely yes: it's a gesture that you can't improvise, you have it inside you. I remember that as kids we midfielders would arrive in the area and feel lost, we couldn't find our way around the spaces while there was always the one, the attacker, who "felt" the goal without having to look at it. A talent that we are born with and that must be protected, even liberated. This isn't always done here ."

It is no coincidence that it is one of the basic problems of our football. Spalletti relied on Raspadori in the national team: what do you think? « I have always considered him a striker rather than a second striker, then he adapts just to play, but he has the characteristics and qualities of a centre-forward. Do you remember Paolo Rossi? In certain movements, in the ability to make his teammates play. But the comparison is really demanding: he lacks a little coolness in front of goal and he has to wear the shirt of a starter for a big club for a while before risking comparisons, but he has his qualities. "

Vlahovic is measuring himself against that of Juventus in the shirt: do you think he is finding the self-confidence suited to the challenge? « Dusan has great exuberance and he must, before any other aspect, find serenity within himself. He has extraordinary qualities but he must not think he has to prove it with every ball he touches, perhaps in outgoing midfield. He must play with serenity because his path is marked: to become a champion in a great team ."

He and Chiesa are "looking" for each other a lot: are they Juve's added value? « They have to look for each other even more! In terms of quality, characteristics and age they truly represent one of the potentially strongest couples. Fede second striker? Max (Allegri, ed.) gives him more freedom and he is repaying it with greater intensity in the coverage phase. Now he's better, you can see it from how he attacks the depth and in any case he builds the most interesting things starting wide from the right: the "chain" with Kostic is always interesting. "

What is the best offense in the league? « Difficult question... It depends on the moments and then in any case we know the qualities: Osimhen has depth and strength, Lautaro's growth in terms of leadership is impressive and Thuam's first half in the derby was impressive in terms of power and variety of solutions . Then, precisely, Chiesa and Vlahovic are young people with extraordinary prospects who will determine the destinies of Juventus. "

The feeling is that the Bianconeri are mentally lighter: can having freed themselves from the judicial chaos of last season make a difference? « Of course. What happened last season weighed heavily because it triggered uncertainties and enormous changes in the club and in the programs. Max was very good at keeping the bar straight and he is now very good at keeping his enthusiasm under control, also because he knows well that everything rests on the shoulders of those two guys up front. However, the fact that there is a new enthusiasm can be perceived from the compactness of the group, from the fact that there are no longer players waving nervously towards their teammates. Yes, Inter have something more but, as Allegri says, after December. If Dusan and Fede are well... ».