French is one of the pupils of the Rossoneri coach. A relationship of esteem and epidermal understanding born in Turin and became stronger and stronger. Now, together, they challenge the past that made them meet
There are relationships that go beyond the simple role. The one between Max Allegri and Adrien Rabiot is particular, almost unique: have you ever heard a footballer call a coach “dad”? Here, Rabiot did not arrive so much, but we lack little. In Marseille Giovanni Rossi – the Club Manager, alongside Allegri at the time of Sassuolo – sometimes passed by Max on the phone saying: “There is your dad”. Adrien ran to respond and together they spoke of everything, from football to life. Like a son who, far from home, finds comfort in the voice of the father. On Sunday evening the two will travel with the memories: four years ago, in Turin, they met for the first time and something has taken place. Behind their bond there is a story made of praise, laughter and pats on the shoulders. On the one hand, a 58 -year -old from Livorno, on the other a 30 of 30 Parisians who grew up in the banlieue. Against Juve, for both, it will be a return to the origins.
praise
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Some relationships employ decades to consolidate themselves. In Rabiot and Allegri, however, an intersection of glances was enough. Something had already been born in the summer of 2019: the Frenchman arrives in Turin on a zero parameter, driven by the desire to be trained by one of the most winning technicians in Italy. But bad luck puts her hand in it: Allegri leaves Juve after five years. With Sarri the spark does not start, with Pirlo it is already better (5 goals and 4 assists at the end of the season). Thus comes 2021, the year of Max’s return to black and white. “Two years ago I also signed because I knew he was on the bench,” Rabiot revealed Gazette. The two finally know each other and since then they have not lost an opportunity to exchange caresses at a distance: “Rabiot has a different engine from the others,” says Allegri. Or: “He has at least ten goals in his legs, in the interdiction phase he is unique”. Max does not even give up to wand him, to push him beyond his limits: “Sometimes he arrives near the area and does not pull. He has to improve, but he grew up in the dribble and has become important, extraordinary”. Rabiot, on the other hand, has always been more direct: “Max is a winner”, or, more simply, “He trusts me”.
The refusal to United: the turning point
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The first season together was like a long attendance between two future lovers: we know each other, between ups and downs, and the foundations are placed for building something solid. Rabiot closes the 2021-22 vintage without goals and with some whistle of disappointment of the fans. The role of exterior all band in 4-4-2 is not his, but for Allegri it is essential for the balance of the team. There Sliding Door He arrives in the second year. In the summer of 2022, the French is expiring of the contract: the United is interested and tries to sink the blow. Spoiler: it won’t succeed. To put himself in the negotiation is Allegri: “I spoke to it before the possible transfer, I told him that I respect him and that I consider him a great player with important room for improvement”. Rabiot trusts and makes the right choice. Refuse England and (re) puts at stake. Juve begins the hiccup season: the #allegriouts on social networks rain after an internal peer with Salernitana in September and Max buts: “This team had been designed in a different way”. But the Livornese technician does not miss the opportunity to underline the absence of Adrien, outside for weeks for a physical problem: “Rabiot is missing from me today. Many discuss him, but Adrien does 13-14 good things per game and always weighs, he has technique and physical”. Here their bond becomes special.
stokanovist
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Rabiot listens to those words and takes a click on him. The 2022-23 season concludes it with 11 goals and 6 assists in 48 midlas games, scoring at Inter, Fiorentina, Champions League and Europa League. Even today it is his best career performance. In December he flies in Qatar for the World Cup, without forgetting to underline the value of his coach: “He is very important for me, it helps me improve in the game. It is he who pushes me to attack. He often repeats that I am a player who can make many goals and be decisive”. On April 23, Juve lost 1-0 at home against Napoli, the future champion of Italy: for Allegri it is the 98th different formation on 98 games since he returned to Turin. To understand who is the most used player until then there are not too many statistics: Rabiot is the Stakanovista with 6,736 minutes to the assets. Of whistles on the boy with the pigtail they no longer feel at the Stadium. In June Juve renews his contract for a year and, in October 2023, in a Milan-Juventus 0-1, Rabioti wears the captain’s band for the first time: when Alex Sandro will not play it will touch Adrien, because it is right that it goes up in the hierarchies, “Allegri points out. Together, at the end of the year, they will celebrate an Italian Cup. Allegri will be exonerated a few days later following the outburst Post-vittoria. You deserved a different farewell, thanks for everything Mister “.
irreplaceable
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After a year separated (2024-25), Allegri and Rabiot are left with Milan. Calls, messages and video calls have never failed. Superfluous to say that the technician wanted him strongly, asking him strongly to the company. The first meeting took place in Milan’s gym: Max enters and exclaims, “Wanderer, how do we go?”. The two take in smiles and hugs, with Allegri who then asks him if he found a house in Milan. Adrien nods. Since he arrived, he has not skipped a single minute of the game, not even in the Italian Cup against Lecce. In the field they understand each other on the fly, laugh and know what they want from each other. Allegri saw in him what many struggled to see, like a parent who sees a force to cultivate in the character of the child. Rabiot learned, transformed the whistles into applause and also became a double -digit midfielder. To call Allegri “dad” there will still be time.
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