“No market. I just want to talk about the match.” Anthony Conte has a clear objective in mind and postpones any discussion about reinforcements to complete the team: “Regardless of what happens, I have made a moral and human commitment, not only to the city and the fans, but also to the players on whom I founded my project. They stayed here also for this reason and therefore I will be the first to give my all to restore prestige to Napoli. We are working hard, we just need a little patience”.
The sporting director is in England. Did you expect this situation of the squad on the second day of the championship?
“Last week we only talked about the market, I received zero questions about Verona and in the end what we saw happened. You have to talk to the club about the market, there are those who are working on it. You are quite informed, I want to talk about the match against Bologna, you know very well about last year’s performance. Let’s focus on the pitch”.
Naples
Lukaku, no agreement with Chelsea for Napoli: parties far apart after the London summit
by Marco Azzi
You spent a week with the team. How did you feel after the defeat in Verona? Does the team resemble you a little more?
“I would start by splitting the match with Verona. In the first half we created chances and our opponents never shot on goal. In the second half it was a completely different game. It seemed like we had gone back to last season. The second half caused concern and reawakened old skeletons. It is inevitable that we were all disappointed at the end of the match. I also say this in relation to the work we do. I honestly thought that many things had been erased, but they have re-emerged in an important way. I can say that I have a historic group on which I have based the rebirth. We are talking about 10-12 players who have written an important page in history. I must say that they are good guys, you see them train and there is really little to say. They have perceived the discomfort and we are working well, as we have done previously. I am not worried about this at all. There has been an awareness of what happened at Bentegodi and the players are the first to not want to repeat certain situations. I am very happy, you have to create a solid base and I have it. I trust them completely, just as they trust me. We have to have faith, these guys want to take Napoli to the top again. It’s the basis on which to work”.
Naples
Neres signs, he is the fourth reinforcement for the Azzurri. Blitz in London, Gilmour also arriving
by Marco Azzi
How are you preparing for the challenge with Bologna? Good morning, will you be there?
“Bologna qualified for the Champions League. They got 15 more points than us in the last championship and won the last match at the Maradona. They are a very physical team and play at an intense pace. We will have to be very careful. We have to play at 110% and I hope there is an important atmosphere. The boys need to feel confident. We don’t have time to think about the second half in Verona. There is an important match, the three points are at stake and we have to send a signal. Buongiorno is training, we will evaluate daily. We hope to recover him”.
Neres has arrived. What kind of player is he?
“Neres has great quality, he has great imagination, he is good in one-on-one situations. He can provide assists and score goals. He can play both in the position of Politano that of Kvaratskhelia. He was taken after a nice courtship that lasted quite a while. We are happy, he needs time to fit into the mechanisms. He will be called up and we will see”.
What do you think? Does Napoli have a mental or physical problem?
“Physical talk is a refuge when there are bad performances. If you look at the physical data, we ran with Verona, we even had 70% possession. The second half was really negative, Verona scored on the second shot and we showed that we were not ready to receive a punch. We went down right away. You have to stay on your feet, or get up and react. But it didn’t go like that, we have to work on this. It’s an aspect that I couldn’t have known. Maybe it’s a good thing that it came right away, it brought us all back to reality. What makes me happy is that I perceived the desire on the part of the players to erase what happened. Real men are seen in difficulty. We have to find something important, I’m referring to the spark that lights everyone up. This historic group has good quality. What happened in Verona must not happen again”.
Neres, morning as a tourist in Naples then meets Conte in the hotel
by Pasquale Tina
Two games and zero goals. Are you worried?
“Data is always important. We played two games against Modena and Verona that we led. This data was also there last year. We finished in tenth place with the best ball possession. This situation was repeated in these two games, we had some chances that we didn’t convert. We have to be meaner and more ferocious in front of goal, we have to have the coolness to make the most of our chances. It also happened last season”.
How is Rafa Marin’s adaptation going?
“He is a young man who had an important experience at Alaves, where he played very defensive football. We need a player who is good at building up the game. From a physical point of view, he has improved a lot. In the first month he was struggling, he is a promising boy, he must continue to grow. He is serious and he works hard”.
Does it take malice to win?
“When I speak of good people, I am referring to real men. This is fundamental. Men emerge from difficulties. This obviously does not mean that they are not bad in the game, it is a completely different matter. I have faith in these guys, by working every day we can improve to become competitive again. I do not know how long it will take us, but we will succeed”.
The team
Buongiorno takes the field: “We will rise again with work, my idol is Sergio Ramos”
by Marco Azzi
Do you feel distrust towards him?
“Naples and the Neapolitans will have enthusiasm and passion regardless of the protagonists. There will be 45 thousand people at the Maradona stadium, just as there were many fans in Dimaro and Castel di Sangro. Maybe – after a difficult period – there could be some murmurs at the first difficulty, but I am convinced that this will not be the case. We must all be protagonists together”.
Lobotka and Anguissa have always scored little. Will he find solutions?
“Lobotka and Anguissa had chances in Verona. I look at the statistics, we try to develop a game to create alternative situations and have more players capable of scoring. I ask my midfielders to insert Anguissa or to occupy a certain area of the pitch on second balls. Lobo and Franck can certainly score more, Anguissa also has the insertion”.
Is Conte the leader of Napoli regardless of the transfer market?
“Regardless of what may happen on the market, I have made a moral and human commitment, not only to Napoli and its fans, but also to the players on whom I based my project, players who have remained here and I have a commitment to them for this year. I am here, head down and I will try to do the impossible to restore prestige and bring Napoli back to where it deserves to be. It takes a bit of patience. Work always comes out. Let’s think positively. We all want to get out of this situation, but I was clear: we won’t start out at two thousand, but we will get there with work by creating a very strong and united group”.
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– 2024-08-23 20:47:58
