31 January 2016
A convincing 4-0 win away to Chievo, which saw his charges move on to 48 points and equal a Serie A club record of 12 straight league victories, made for a more than satisfying Sunday afternoon for Massimiliano Allegri.
The Tuscan tactician, however, was keen to shift focus from the Bianconeri’s brilliant run of results to what will be required to keep up their form in a bid to bring home a fifth successive Scudetto title by the end of the campaign.
Allegri began: “I’m not particularly interested in this record, as I’d be upset if we won 20 games on the bounce and then maybe not win the league. We’ve fought back well this term and I didn’t expect us to make up ground on our rivals as quickly as we have done, but there are still 16 fixtures left and so we need to keep bettering ourselves as we go forwards.
“There’s room for improvement both on an individual and collective level, whether physically or mentally. Pogba’s final effort on goal is a case in point, when he struck the crossbar by hitting the ball too hard. Instead, he might have opted to place his shot to better effect.”
After seeing his men begin the New Year with six victories in all competitions, the 48-year-old admitted that the team had so far learnt their lesson from the dangerous last moments of their December outing away to Carpi, when the hosts had threatened to put a dent in their winning streak.
“I still recall very clearly the final minute against Carpi, when we risked throwing away a win and potentially derailing our comeback. We must not forget where we were after the first ten matches. Being mindful of our initial troubles will help keep our focus razor-sharp in the run-in.”
Turning his attentions to today’s display at the Bentegodi Stadium, Allegri could find few faults across the 92 minutes, while admitting that Alvaro Morata had showed signs during the team’s Vinovo workouts that a return to goalscoring form was in the offing.
“I’m very happy with the boys’ performance both from a technical standpoint and in terms of the intensity of our play. There was only one mistake of note late on, leading to a fine save from Buffon, but all in all it was a very pleasing afternoon.
“Morata had been scoring in training already over the past couple of weeks and when that happens, it’s always likely that you’d find the target in matches as well.”
