Allegri happy with firing forwards

Juventus coach Massimo Allegri is spoiled for choice up front as he discovered during Juventus’ 3-0 win over Verona on Wednesday.

The reigning Serie A champions coasted to an eighth straight league win, with no place for Mario Mandzukic – who scored a brace in the team’s 3-2 win over Carpi before the mid-season break – in the starting line-up.

Instead, Paulo Dybala and Alvaro Morata lead the line, with the former scoring and the latter being replaced by Simone Zaza, who got his name on the scoresheet.

Allegri said he was happy to see Zaza score again, with the Italian netting four goals in his last three appearances.

“I’m pleased for Zaza and the regularity with which he’s finding the net,” Allegri said.

“Morata played well, he attacked the space and closed down the man in possession at every opportunity. He needs to remain calm and keep working hard, his strikes have been crucial for us in the past.

“As for Dybala, he’s continuing to improve every aspect of his game. He’s very focused on achieving his goals and is a great player to have in the squad.”

Allegri said he was happy with the progress he was seeing from his team after correcting a poor start to the domestic campaign.

“We’ve grown enormously on all fronts and for me that is the key difference between what you are seeing now and what you saw at the start of the season.

“Back then, we weren’t playing badly and I believe some of our performances were better than those during the opening months of the previous campaign. Now however, we are quicker, stronger and have all of our key players back to full fitness.”