Negative moments of anger can occur in a coach’s life, but they must be managed so as not to overwhelm one’s self-control. This seems to be what Massimiliano Allegri did not do during the last minutes of the Coppa Italia final and during the awards ceremony.
Losing self-control is a serious matter for anyone. It involves nearly canceling out any form of control usually present in interpersonal relationships and acting solely on emotional pressure, which blocks every logical and rational thought in the mind. Being enthusiastic or being angry are two extremes of the same continuum, one positive and the other negative, representing two different ways of investing the physical and mental energy available.
In both cases, emotions took over rational thought, which in these moments amplifies with words what the moods represent at that time. One can act in this way during the game to draw attention to oneself, to relieve pressure from one’s team, and to intimidate the referee.
Allegri is a winning coach, so it is even more surprising that he would indulge in these outbursts of anger. Whatever shortcomings he may have observed in the club’s management, he has nonetheless achieved the goals that were set for him. This would have been the response to counter criticism, not verbal violence and uncontrolled gestures.
However, history cannot be undone, and we will see in the coming days what kind of actions Allegri and those who were the object of his reactions will take.
