It's post match interview of Viareggio cup final yesterday. So it's new. And allegri always says "he's still young. he needs to grow. He has a lot of room to improve" when he interviews
about young players (as I recall he said something very similar about Ses, Niang, balotelli this season.) Maybe he says these kind of comments to keep their feet on the ground. IDK. but It's really important for young players who get famous so early in their career and allegri knows it.
So I dont think this comment has an underlying meaning like he thinks cristante is too young or isnt competent enough to be in the first team. It means literally Cristante is still young and has to keep growing IMO.
1. thing allegri is doing that pep and to a lesser degree fergie do with youth.
He won't play em till they develop right ALL Around habits.
By that i mean defending, tactical positioning.
Cristante might be a better passer than most our midfield, doenst mean he's better now. once you gt a kid into lineup and he's got bad habits and knwos he doesn't have to work as hard on other aspects it's REALLY hard to re-train them.
Could you imagine SES or Niang tracking/working this hard if he didn't force it upon them. Reward effort level w/ playing time
if you look at barcelona for ex.... a reason cesc is struggling to consistently play despite being amazing is he doesn't get theirt defensive concepts as well as others. And same w/ thiago alcatanra, and i think we all agree both are very talented
-
also kids 18. He may be tall, but i guarentee you guys like flamini and muntari (much stronger) would light his ass up. Dealing w/ lack of muscle etc.