He is not interested in certain names in a possible championship challenge. Antonio Conte avoids any direct discussion on Naples’ desire for the tricolor and in his train of thought there is obviously maximum concentration in view of the match against Atalanta: “He won the Europa League and is in the Champions League. We are not there. From certain points of view, it can also be an example for our growth. We are all on a journey together. It’s not Conte who wins or loses, but all of Napoli. I have absolutely no doubts about this. It’s us that counts.”
What threat does Atalanta represent?
“There is the threat of a strong team that has won the Europa League. They beat Bayer Leverkusen in the final and the Germans had never lost. Atalanta qualified for the Champions League and has always done well in recent years. It must be counted among the strong teams. Credit must be given to the club, credit must be given to Gasperini who has done an extraordinary job in all these years. I have great respect for him. He was my coach: I played a few games in the Juve Primavera, when he was the coach. Through work, he achieved great results. Atalanta is a reality. You don’t win the Europa League by chance. It is impossible to underestimate the opponent on a mental level, at most Atalanta could do so, given the 3-0 last championship. We are out of the Cups, they are not. They are structured for the Champions League. Those like us who don’t play in the Cups can be at an advantage because they work, but our squad is far from the others.”
How is Lobotka? Are you satisfied with Gilmour?
“Lobotka will be ready for Inter. We are in the final stages of recovery, it wasn’t a small problem as some had labeled. We still need to be patient. I never had any doubts about Gilmour. He deserved to play sooner, but it was difficult with that Lobotka. Billy is doing very well, he is young and will be able to stay with Napoli for many years.”
Has Napoli already absorbed his mentality?
“I keep talking about work in progress, you can’t think of broadcasting everything in four months. I found a group of open and helpful guys. They are prepared, credit should be given to them for this. It is not obvious to find this attitude, an indispensable ingredient to accelerate the path. I hope to be proven wrong, in a construction situation it is necessary to grow and reach certain levels. My experience is that we won’t do multiple jumps. It’s not like that. The entire theory of work and construction would collapse. Then maybe I’ll be wrong and of course I hope so. We are in a very positive moment, there could be other negative ones and when that happens, the desire to do even better will have to increase.”
Is the match with Atalanta between two candidates for the scudetto?
“I don’t care about this aspect. It’s a comparison between teams that want to be in Europe. Atalanta is already there, we have to enter through the main door. I repeat, Atalanta is a consolidated reality in the Champions League. Atalanta can be an example for us: they have laid bricks every year, sometimes important players have left and credit must be given to Gian Piero for never lowering the level. For this reason, Atalanta can be a good example, we too have lost important players and it could happen again.”
Is Lukaku growing from Kvaratskhelia?
“I talked about 48 goals conceded already during the presentation. But it wasn’t just the defenders who were to blame, but the entire stage. The credit goes to all the players who participate. The first goal scored with Milan is the example. The same applies to the offensive phase: also in this case participation must be collective. I don’t like talking about individual players. We are all involved in the two phases. Tomorrow will be a tough test on a defensive level, we face the team that has the best attack in Serie A with 26 goals. We will try to be prepared. It’s not easy to play against them. We have to think about scoring and then not conceding, so we can win.”
Would winning the scudetto immediately at Napoli be a miracle?
“I am a believer and only one person can perform miracles, not me. I’m Catholic and I also pray for my team, I always do. I, the players and the club can move forward together to build something important that will last over time. Then it says ‘God sees and provides’. Our work must not be missing. From this point of view we shouldn’t make any mistakes. There have always been football miracles, but I repeat we can work to help this person achieve the miracle. Help yourself, God helps you.”
Who would he have given the Golden Ball to?
“I’ll let the jury decide. I have all other thoughts.”
How should enthusiasm be managed?
“Enthusiasm is not a problem. It must be petrol, it seems like something positive to me. I will never turn it off. We have to ride the passion around Naples by coming here every day. We must demonstrate a sense of belonging every day to make our fans proud. Hearing them sing at San Siro was beautiful and should give us strength in the face of difficulty and fatigue. Enthusiasts must be with us and dream. Realistically, I try to say that we have started a journey to create a stable project for Naples, for the club, for president De Laurentiis and for the fans.”
Is Politano the symbol of this Napoli spirit?
“He was the first to pitch this idea to me. He gave me the willingness to lower myself in some matches. He’s doing it perfectly. Ngonge also did it well against Lecce. When the opponent attacks with the five channels, a winger or the midfielder is lowered. Arsenal did it too. Some precautions are necessary. Football is evolving from a tactical point of view.”
Atalanta will have many individual duels. What will you do?
“We are preparing. Against Atalanta it is necessary. Today I bothered the players enough to make them understand some situations. We have to show the player what will happen on Sunday. The preparation phase is fundamental, then the quality footballer messes up certain situations on his own and that is important.”
It is difficult to imagine a Napoli without Lukaku and Kvaratskhelia in perspective. Can the Conte effect count?
“We discussed it a lot. I want to clarify one aspect: Napoli wins and Napoli loses. It has nothing to do with Conte winning or Conte losing. The concept must be unique: we win, we lose. Giving specific merit to a footballer is wrong, anyone who knows me understands this. I hope these distinctions are not made. We must be united and compact, the merits belong to everyone. But at the moment we are only on the tenth day. Now we are doing things properly, we all participate in the victories and we all must participate in the defeats.”
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