Szczesny’s Blunder, Explains the 180 Degree Difference Between Pirlo and Allegri’s Philosophy

KOMPAS.com – A pair of fatal blunders were made by Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny when his team were held to a 2-2 draw with Udinese.

The inaugural week of the Italian League 2021-2022 between Udinese vs Juventus at Dacia Arena, Sunday (22/8/2021) ended with a 2-2 draw.

Juventus, who had led 2-0 through goals from Paulo Dybala (3′) and Juan Cuadrado (23′) failed to wrap up the win after their goal was cleared by a Roberto Pereyra penalty (51′) and Gerard Deulofeu’s (83′) strike.

Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny is said to be responsible for a pair of goals conceded by Juventus.

The penalty for Udinese was born due to Szczesny’s slow reaction in anticipating Tolgay Arslan’s foul in the 16 meter area.

Read also: Ronaldo is reserved for Juventus, Del Piero calls Allegri smart

Before Arslan made a penetration into the penalty box, the same player fired a shot that failed to be deflected perfectly by Szczesny.

The process of Udinese’s second goal created by Gerard Deulofeu also started from Szczesny’s error in reading the situation.

Receiving Leonardo Bonucci’s pass, Szczesny coolly managed to outwit Gerard Deulofeu who came stuck.

The Polish goalkeeper then tried to send the ball back to Bonucci.

Unfortunately for Szczesny, his pass was caught by Stefano Okaka who then passed the ball to Deulofeu.

Also read: Udinese Vs Juventus, Allegri admits he deliberately made Ronaldo a backup

Without significant difficulty, Deulofeu struck the round skin into an empty net.

“Szczesny is a quality goalkeeper. He didn’t make any technical mistakes. We have to understand the situation and don’t be ashamed to throw the ball away,” said Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri in response to Szczesny’s second blunder.

Allegri’s way of responding to Szczesny’s mistakes is 180 degrees different from his predecessor in the Juventus coach seat, Andrea Pirlo.

When Allegri asked his team not to be ashamed to throw the ball away if it was necessary, Pirlo had a different understanding.

In September, 3 M? in 2022, and the first goalkeeper of the national team – Wojtas Szcz? sny, still in shape. Juve drew 2-2 xD pic.twitter.com/542Dm0TOcX

– Mati (@ Fremddenlegion2) August 22, 2021

When Szczesny made the mistake that led to the team conceding the goal in the 2020-2021 season, Pirlo remained convinced that his team must continue to build on the construction of attacks via short passes from the bottom.

“I’d rather take the risk of scoring goals from behind than having to throw the ball away,” Pirlo said as reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Allegri and Pirlo’s comments more or less show a shift in Juventus’ playing style.

In 2020-2021, Pirlo is very demanding of the team to build foot-to-foot attacks and make intense positional permutations.

Also read: Udinese Vs Juventus, Allegri says about Szczesny’s Fatal Blunder

If Pirlo uses an aesthetic approach, Allegri chooses to be more pragmatic.

Allegri’s pragmatic style was evident in his first term as Juve coach in the 2014-2019 period.

Allegri will be willing to change the scheme and the way his team plays if the result is three points.

At that time, Allegri’s Juventus direction was very smooth, changing the scheme of four to three defenders, or vice versa, from week to week. Such transformations even often occur in the same game.