15:40
Spalletti: “A cycle can be opened. There are good foundations”
“Opening a cycle. Of course, there are good foundations, a strong, healthy group and fresh stuff that can explode at any moment. Congratulations to the club, Giuntoli is very good at choosing them, identifying them, then it works like this that through his collaborators he pulls outside a series of names then we have to see if the club buys them for you or not, taking into account the possibilities that an attentive president rightly has as references. enormous quality and that every time I choose 11 my heart aches, Elmas has to be played, he never came but if he came to ask me what he must do to play I’d be in prison, I wouldn’t know what to answer. There’s Raspadori, the president made him available to us, it seemed difficult, he’s arrived, he’s the future of Italy and I didn’t let him play, I’m crazy about Gaetano, Zerbin has availability, you’ve never seen Zedadka but I would have liked to go to the Cup to do I can’t see, so it bothered me, a couple of games would have influenced the team’s recovery pace, but I could only choose 15 in training camp and leave others at home, make those who didn’t play feel like owners”.
15:38
Spalletti: “Let’s think about ourselves without considering the advantage over second place”
“Low-level championship? I don’t think about it, I think about occupying the time with the things we have to do, then we’ll evaluate the differences with our opponents. We’re doing important, extraordinary things and the boys have merit. It’s not a match you win or a cup with 3-4 games, here is the continuity with which you take the field. The +18? We don’t consider it, we have to evaluate the games and be the same, what makes the difference, play them in the same way, even in 10 in Empoli by giving respect to the opponent. Anything can happen, a detail is enough to reverse everything, that’s how it works”.
15:34
Spalletti: “I don’t train and I don’t play for revenge”
“I don’t play and I don’t train for rematches or anything else. I have to try to do my job well as the president says. Work well and that’s it. I don’t have to do anything else, because then it’s the results of the football played that count. Facebook pages on about me? I always thank them, like the page “What emotion?”. When someone always talks about you, they comment on what you say from morning to night, it’s always stuff that makes you feel positively responsible and spurs you on. Knowing that the Inter fans remember me with pleasure and I’m just as pleased, so we’re going to work even more responsibly.”
15:25
Spalletti on that Inter-Juve… fatal to Napoli
“Are the championships lost in the hotel, says Sarri? We should ask him, even if that result there influenced the race, in his opinion a lot… In that game we were winning, I made substitutions that determined that stuff there because then everyone goes to finish there, but I would do them again because we were very suffering at that moment in 10 men, but I am responsible for what Napoli did, you give me too many responsibilities. Orsato error? I don’t talk about it, I always choose myself as responsible for what it didn’t go”.
15:22
Spalletti: “Lazio wasn’t a crossroads in the first leg”
“Was Lazio a crossroads? I don’t think so. In my opinion, however, the turning point came from the previous two matches, because the same mentality remained, they created a willingness to sacrifice and then if you continue, not being at that level, one day you wake up , you try again and you’re at that level there with consistency. It always happens, otherwise it wouldn’t have meant the way to work”.
15:19
Spalletti on the Scudetto
“Everyone dreams of the best when they do this job, then there is also something else that gives satisfaction. I’m not one of those who win at all costs and then fail the following year. I like collaborating with the club to make a correct speech for common goals”.
15:16
Spalletti on the nice words of Osimhen and other guys
“Try interviewing Demme or whoever plays less and let’s see, he’s one of those who deserves to play for quality, experience. It’s easy for me to work with guys who have quality, an aptitude for listening, for learning because there’s always the chance to move forward. I thank them, but they are always the architects of what is happening”.
15:13
Spalletti on the fans
“Now there’s a knowledge of football in general, a maturity of being able to evaluate how things work in life. It’s essential that they don’t go waiting for us at the finish line, but that they take the field with us at every match. Fans, not listen to those who want us to take our hands off the wheel, make us raise them as a sign of victory when we have so many bends to tackle”.
15:08
The conference begins, Spalletti: “I applauded Sarri’s Napoli”
Spalletti arrived in the press room. “Comparison with Sarri? We bring with us a working culture started by others. A way of being on the pitch that was characteristic of players who preceded ours. Sarri has similar things to us. We like to wear tracksuits for both of us , indeed I like to wear shoes even when I walk down the street. We have the same idea of commanding the game, because through possession of the ball, you go to decide where you command the game. Then obviously a lot depends on the variations in pace: the others are to get you or not? If they come, they must have a very small team size and all these talks. Sarri was a capopopolo, like Masaniello in revolutionizing football. When I was at home without a bench, I applauded Sarri’s Napoli from my sofa. This is the beauty of football, I don’t care if it’s better or worse.”
14:48
Soon the start
The questions of the journalists present in the press room for Luciano Spalletti are about to start: we are just waiting for the arrival of the coach
14:40
Naples in history
Napoli are the third team in the history of Serie A to have obtained at least 65 points after 24 seasonal games after Inter (2006/07) and Juventus (2018/19) – with one success they would reach 68, leaving behind the Nerazzurri, who in 06/07 they drew the 25th match.
14:35
Spalletti ahead of Sarri
Two Tuscans against. Spalletti and Sarri challenge each other for the ninth time in their careers. The lead is Luciano Spalletti who has won on five occasions, against once by Sarri and two draws.
14:20
Naples, 4 clean sheets in the last 4 games
Napoli have won their last four league games without conceding a goal: they have not recorded five clean sheets in a row since February 2019 under Carlo Ancelotti, while they have never scored five consecutive clean sheets in the history of the competition.
14:00
Waiting for Spalletti’s words
After last Saturday’s victory at Empoli, the Napoli leaders is ready to host the Maradona stadium Lazio who is fourth in the standings with 45 points, 20 less than the Azzurri. Waiting for the words of Luciano Spalletti who will speak to journalists at the press conference. Follow the live text