Steve Nicol and Mark Donaldson talk the issues surrounding Juventus' Paulo Dybala off the football pitch.
Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri says Paulo Dybala is wilting under the weight of expectation after he left the forward on the bench once again for Sunday's 3-0 win at Bologna.
Dybala has been tipped to become the next Lionel Messi in the past and Allegri feels such comparisons have affected his game, which is why he has taken action by dropping the 24-year-old, who has scored just two goals in his last 15 appearances, having struck 12 in his first eight this season.
"I'm sorry about leaving him out because he's a young lad with a lot of quality, but I'm not leaving him on the bench because he's rubbish: maybe some of the comparisons that have been made have damaged him because players should only really be judged after they've made a certain number of appearances," Allegri told Sky Sport Italia. "Too much responsibility has been placed on him, but the club are very close to Paulo."
Juve vice-president Pavel Nedved last week told Dybala to sort out his private life and ensure football was his priority in a bid to rediscover his form.
While agreeing with that assessment, Allegri says he felt Dybala -- who was benched for the goalless draw with Inter Milan as well as the win at Bologna -- also needed a bit of a break, having been an almost ever-present all season.
Paulo Dybala has been benched for the last two games.
"He did well when he came on, just like he's trained well during the week," Allegri said. "I've dropped him for two games out of choice, because I've got so many up front that I have to make choices.
"He'd played practically every game up to now. He needs not to think only about scoring goals because he's never going to be a 30-goal-a-season player. He needs to focus on playing and also setting goals up.
"Nedved just gave him some advice, and I'd say he's got quite a bit of games under the belt [to be in a position to give advice], and now and again it does you some good to have your feathers ruffled too.
"There are times when you need a certain type of player in your team and others when you need to give your team, who may just need some tranquillity, a degree of certainty. When I was coach of [AC] Milan, I had to choose between Robinho, Ronaldinho, Ibra [Zlatan Ibrahimovic], [Alexandre] Pato and [Antonio] Cassano, and there were times when we played with three defensive midfielders."
Juve are back in action on Wednesday when they host Genoa in the round of 16 of the Coppa Italia. They then host Roma in Serie A on Saturday with just three points separating the two sides, with the fourth-placed Giallorossi holding a game in hand on Juve in second.
Ben Gladwell reports on Serie A, the Italian national team and the Bundesliga for ESPN FC, UEFA and the Press Association. @UEFAcomBenG.
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Source: espn.co.uk