Manchester United will consider Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri if they fail in their pursuit for number one target Mauricio Pochettino. The Red Devils appointed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in a caretaker role after sacking Mourinho and will now conduct a wide search for their next permanent manager. Pochettino is the club’s first choice due to his success at Spurs that has married attacking football with a faith in the club’s academy products. However, United are pessimistic about their chances of convincing the Argentine to leave Spurs this summer and, in any case, would have to pay Tottenham a compensation package in the region of £34million.
With Pochettino perceived to be out of reach, United have identified Allegri as their alternative according to ESPN. The Italian has won four consecutive league titles in Italy and guided Juventus to the 2015 and 2017 Champions League finals. United are determined to modernise the club’s set-up by appointing a sporting director and Allegri has worked under one during his five years at Juventus. The Old Lady have one of the most enviable business models in European football and United want to replicate them by hiring a coach comfortable in such a set-up. Allegri was interested in taking over at Arsenal last summer before they appointed Unai Emery and the Italian is out of contract in Turin in 18 months time.
After nearest rivals Inter Milan romped to victory against Genoa earlier in the day, the Bianconeri restored their six-point cushion at the top of the standings with a 3-1 triumph at the Allianz Stadium. Juventus got off to the dream start as Paulo Dybala struck inside the opening minute, but Cagliari came back into proceedings and levelled superbly though Joao Pedro. However, Filip Bradaric scored an own goal just 125 seconds later and Juan Cuadrado diffused rising tension late on by sweeping home Cristiano Ronaldo’s cross. While it was at times an unconvincing display, it acted as a solid warm-up for Wednesday’s Champions League Group H clash with United – a match where anything but defeat will seal the Italian giants’ progress to the last-16.
“It’s not easy to win 10 out of 11 matches,” Juventus head coach Allegri said. “We got off to a good start but weren’t able to add a second and then we disappeared from the game a little. “We must do better defensively in our own half. We take too many things for granted. We assume we’ll score two or three goals every game, but we can’t always do that. “We have to be capable of grinding out 1-0 wins too. “We need to keep clear heads at all times, otherwise we can concede from the opposition’s first cross and then almost concede another from Cagliari’s only chance in the second half. “It’s one of the few things we’re not doing so well, and we must work on it and concentrate more. “Now we can focus on Manchester United. “We must try to secure our place in the next round on Wednesday and then end this run of matches with a good result at AC Milan before the break.” Allegri approaches Wednesday’s Champions League match with some questions over key players’ availability. “Douglas Costa had a muscle problem, (Miralem) Pjanic was starting to feel a bit tired and (Blaise) Matuidi sustained a knock,” he said.
