Massimiliano Allegri Reveals Desire to Work in Premier League
By Tom Gott
Former Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri has confessed that he wants to be the next foreign coach to take the Premier League by storm.
Allegri has been out of work since leaving the Allianz Stadium in 2019, meaning he's had plenty of time to watch the likes of Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho impress in England's top tier.
Speaking to The Times, Allegri admitted he believes English football has improved greatly because of the multi-cultural nature of its coached, and he revealed that he hopes to try his hand at leading a Premier League side in the near future.
“For me, English football is improving now because there are a lot of foreign trainers," he said. "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.”
Allegri has been linked with a whole host of English sides since leaving Juventus, with links to Manchester United or Arsenal perhaps stronger than most. He admitted to have been learning English in the hope of boosting his chances of a move, but refused to be drawn on where he would like to land specifically.
However, he has clearly been keeping up to date with what is going on in the Premier League, and he seemed to suggest that he may know the key to success in England.
“The important thing is every country has its own history,” Allegri added. “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.”