Allegri: 'Seedorf drove me mad'

By Football Italia staff

Massimiliano Allegri denies he had a row with Andrea Pirlo at Milan, but Clarence Seedorf “drove me up the wall.”

The Coach had always been blamed by fans for pushing Pirlo away from the Rossoneri, so fireworks were expected when they worked together at Juventus.

“I never had any arguments with Pirlo,” he told La Repubblica newspaper. “The transfer to Juve revitalised him psychologically and change can be cathartic.

“That season, my third on the Rossoneri bench, Milan no longer had Alessandro Nesta, Gennaro Gattuso, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva.

“It would’ve been tough for Andrea to do well in that squad too.”

However, Allegri does admit to clashes with Seedorf, who went on to replace him on the Milan bench.

“Seedorf wanted to discuss every detail and just talk, talk, talk. He drove me up the wall. I’d say to him, Clarence, if everyone acted like you then I’d need a day with 700 hours in it.”

On the other hand, most players are a little too quiet.

“Dialogue is complicated in a locker room. You enter and almost everyone has headphones on with loud music. Nobody talks to anyone else.

“It requires authority, respect and patience. It’s not my style to underline every day that I’m in charge. I point out they are forced to listen to me not because I’m the best, but I am the oldest.

“There are talents like waves, for example Alvaro Morata and Kingsley Coman. They go up and down, so you need to keep an eye on the flow and wait for the right moment.

“Some players need to be taken by the hand and educated, like children, but from others I find collaboration, experience and character. Having said that, I prefer not to be friends with my players.”

Allegri doesn’t much get on with reporters either.

“I will admit that I become unpleasant on TV. I could happily do without post-match interviews and having to watch replays of every incident.”

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