'A laughing stock' - Massimiliano Allegri's miserable football means Juventus' USMNT duo Weston McKennie and Timothy Weah will have a new manager next season

Allegri has lifted the trophy on four previous occasions with Juventus, with whom he's also won five of his six Scudetti. The former AC Milan boss is, quite simply, one of the most successful coaches in Italian football history.

In fact, the last time Juve and Atalanta met, in a league game in Turin on March 10, some ultras unfurled a banner before the game highlighting their coach's unprecedented achievement in surpassing 1000 points in Serie A. "Only you, 1000 and more," it read, "Immense Allegri!"

Not everyone, though, was as keen to pay tribute to the Bianconeri boss. The banner was met by boos from some supporters, who also expressed their dissatisfaction with Juve's brand of football during the game - which was reluctantly tolerated during the first half of the season, when the team was challenging Inter for the Scudetto.

However, the problem with such a limited and defensive style of play is that it becomes indefensible when it's no longer yielding victories. Consequently, Allegri's position is now under intense scrutiny, with Juve having picked up just 15 points from their last 15 games to drop from second to fourth in the Serie A standings. Essentially, the results are now as bad as the performances.

The Coppa Italia, thus, represents a (long) shot at redemption; Allegri's last chance to avoid going three consecutive seasons at Juve without lifting a single trophy, which would be catastrophic for the coach of a club where 'winning isn't important - it's the only thing that counts'.

Allegri has always pointed out that one needs a "thick skin" to survive at Juve - but it's been clear that the constant criticism he has come under since the turn of the year has got to him. Indeed, just a week after the Atalanta game, his team were held to another draw, this time by Genoa, and Allegri was enraged by a journalist having the temerity to question his continued faith in his beloved 3-5-2 system.

"Do you know how to be a coach? I do not follow what the public says, I do what is right for the team. I do not dare tell a journalist how to do his job. So don’t tell me how to do mine," Allegri fumed on Sky Sport Italia. "How did we get 46 points in the first 19 rounds? It’s the same answer. If you ask me a more intelligent question, then I will give a more intelligent answer.

"Seeing as I am a coach who works for Juventus, I have a target to achieve. I am disappointed the results aren’t coming at the moment, everyone makes mistakes, but I make choices for the good of the team. I have never followed the public mood. Your job is to ask me questions, then there are those who understand and those who don't."

It was hardly the first time Allegri has gone after the press. Juve were humbled 3-0 at home in the last 16 of the 2021-22 Champions League, while last season they failed to make it out of their group. On both occasions, Allegri accused those who portrayed the embarrassing exits as "failure" of "intellectual dishonesty".

His argument was - and still is - that he has actually done a decent job in difficult circumstances since returning for a second spell in charge, in 2021. Last season, for example, Juve would have qualified for the Champions League via a top-four finish had they not been docked 10 points as part of an investigation into capital gain violations that pretty much overshadowed their entire campaign, causing no end of uncertainty at the club.

This season, meanwhile, Allegri shockingly lost both Paul Pogba and Nicolo Fagioli to lengthy bans, with the Frenchman failing an anti-doping test, and the Italian found guilty of illegal betting activity. Allegri, thus, feels that his hand was forced; that he essentially had to do whatever was required to get Juve back into the Champions League to ease their mounting financial concerns.

The case for his defence is certainly not without merit. But the idea that Allegri has somehow overachieved with the resources at his disposal is ludicrous. We're talking about the team with the biggest wage bill in Serie A (€74.1 million) - yet they're presently battling for third place with Atalanta (€29.3m) and Bologna (€19.3m), who have just qualified for the Champions League for the first time ever. Atalanta's position is also incredibly impressive when one considers that they're still fighting on three fronts, having reached the Europa League final, as well as the Coppa decider.

Allegri, though, has rather bizarrely argued that Juve have been hindered - rather than helped - by not playing in Europe this season, claiming that playing nearly every three days gives a team a greater sense of rhythm, and completely dismissing the effects of fatigue. As a result, he actually believes that Juve's present position is perfectly acceptable.

“When he says Juve ought to finish fourth, it's a laughing stock," former Italy international Antonio Cassano told La Domenica Sportiva. "Just look at Bologna, they play marvellous football and spent about €1.50! Juve have 17 internationals and spent €160m on the transfer market, but they play slapdash football. The players can’t seem to string three passes together!"

Cassano is obviously infamous for hyperbole and holding grudges - but he is spot on about Juve's woeful inability to keep a hold of the ball. Even Frosinone (49.81 percent) have averaged more possession than Juve (48.39%) in Serie A this season.

Such a statistic might be acceptable if Juve were a clinical counter-attacking side, but they've managed just 49 league goals in 36 games to date. To put that tally in context, Inter have netted 86 times.

One could argue that it is unfair to compare Juve to the runaway champions, who have been a cut above everyone else in Serie A this season, but this is the standard by which the grand 'Old Lady' of Italian football is meant to be judged. What's more, when Juve and Inter met at San Siro on February 4, they were just one point behind the league. It's now up to 25 - and it's an accurate reflection of the gulf in quality of the two great rivals.

While Inter are one of the top teams in Europe, Juve look and play like a provincial side. The game plan appears to be defend for dear life and try to hit opponents on the break or nick a goal from a corner or free-kick.

As the Gazzetta wrote after the Genoa game, "crosses and dead balls are their only weapons", which is a staggering state of affairs for a side containing Dusan Vlahovic and Federico Chiesa. Both would quite clearly benefit from a change of approach - and a change of coach - but it's hard to shake the suspicion that Allegri isn't Juve's only problem. Even if the young, exciting and innovative Bologna boss Thiago Motta were to take over next season, the squad would still require major surgery.

Sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli, who constructed Napoli's Scudetto-winning squad, only arrived last summer and clearly has an awful lot of work to do to transform Juve into a title contender.

"Juve's problem is not just the attack," former midfielder Massimo Mauro told the Gazzetta. "If I were Giuntoli I would take the responsibility of telling the owners that 15 players have to be changed."

That's obviously not going to happen but, certainly, several players face an uncertain future, including American duo Weston McKennie and Timothy Weah. McKennie has had his moments in Turin, but has been hampered by injury and rather symbolises the complete lack of creativity in the weakest midfield Juve have had for more than a decade. If he doesn't agree to accept a wage cut, there's every chance he'll be sold this summer, given he has just one year left on his current deal.

Weah, meanwhile, has struggled for starts since his July arrival from Lille and has been linked with a transfer himself. In his case, though, the feeling is that he should be given another year to prove himself as he could thrive under a new coach.

And that really sums up the situation right now: while Allegri may not be the only problem, he really doesn't look like he's part of the solution. Juve have not made any progress since his return as coach three years ago. On the contrary, they're going backwards with a painfully archaic style of play. Indeed, one of the great ironies heading into the Coppa Italia final is that Gasperini is 10 years older than Allegri and yet it is the Atalanta coach who boasts the far more modern footballing philosophy.

Maybe Allegri could still get the better of Gasperini. Maybe he'll figure out a way to grind out another victory. But it still feels like it would be a case of too little, too late. Even if Juve win on Wednesday, Allegri will still almost certainly lose his job.