Antonio Conte’s Anger Spells Troubles for Napoli After Verona Nightmare

At his unveiling as Napoli manager in June, Antonio Conte had promised his team would wear a ‘pissed-off’ look throughout the campaign.

The implications were clear. After finishing their campaign as reigning champions in 10th place, Napoli were ready to bounce back.

But the only man to wear a pissed-off look on Sunday night was Conte himself, after his first game as Napoli manager ended in a 3-0 defeat away against Verona.

“I’m ashamed as a coach, a thing like this has rarely happened to me,” the 54-year-old said.

“Today my heart is bleeding. Let’s see if anyone else is bleeding in the next few days.”

Conte wasn’t quite done in his scathing assessment of his players.

“In the second we melted like snow in the sun,” he added, before warning the debacle on the opening day of the season had not come entirely announced.

“We need to offer a humble apology to the Neapolitan people who follow us so passionately for an unacceptable performance, which did not come from nowhere,” he said. 

“We need to work on every aspect, and we will try to do so.”

This was unfamiliar territory for Conte, who had never lost the opening game of the Serie A season as manager.

Parma were swatted aside 4-1 when he made his debut as Juventus manager in 2011. Eight years later, Lecce were trounced 4-0 in his first league game in charge of Inter Milan.

Even at Chelsea and Tottenham, Conte’s reigns began with a 2-1 win over West Ham and 0-0 draw against Everton respectively. 

Conte desperately wants new signings

But even before a ball was kicked in Verona, Conte had set up the bar pretty high in terms of wearing a pissed-off look.

“A total rebuild is needed,” he said. “From the foundations. When a team puts 10 or 12 players on the transfer market, it means there’s a rebuild underway and it’s going to take time, patience, humility from the fanbase and understanding. 

“We can’t allow ourselves to get carried away.”

In fact, the former Juventus and Inter manager has rarely looked happy since taking the job two months ago. The nature of his malaise, unsurprisingly, can be traced to Napoli’s signings. Or rather, the lack of thereof.

The Azzurri spent €40m (£34m) on Torino captain Alessandro Buongiorno, signed defender Rafa Marin from Real Madrid and snapped up Euro 2020 winner Leonardo Spinazzola on a free. 

But the well dried up quickly, leaving Conte frustrated at the lack of incomings. The impasse is largely down to Victor Osimhen, or rather the €130m (£110m) price tag Napoli have slapped on him.

The Nigerian, Serie A’s top scorer during Napoli’s Scudetto winning season, has made clear he wants to leave Naples, but the bidding war De Laurentiis expected never materialised.

And as a result, the money Conte was hoping to splash on some of his targets – chief among them Romelu Lukaku – has remained locked away.

And signings, at least as far as Conte is concerned, are desperately needed. 

“I expected to find a better situation,” he said.

“I thought there might be some positive surprises [to go with the challenges] but I’ve struggled to find any.”

Then, delivering an ominous warning to his players as much as to De Laurentiis himself, he added: “We could sign one, two, three, four, however many players the club wants. This is all relative. 

“The problem needs solving at source.”

Conte found difficult situations at Juventus and Chelsea

After ending a 33-year wait for a Scudetto, Luciano Spalletti walked away and Napoli’s title defence was over before it had even begun, the Partenopei finishing some 41 points behind Inter Milan.

But these aren’t unusual circumstances for Conte, who took Juventus from seventh to champions in his first season and successfully twice defended the title.

Likewise, Chelsea had finished 10th the season before Conte’s arrival, but won the Premier League in his first campaign in charge. 

The difference at Napoli seems to be that Conte does not feel he can succeed immediately – or, at the very least, mount a challenge.

“We can’t think last year was a fluke,” he explained. 

“It was not a fluke. I guarantee that. Whoever thinks it was the result of bad luck or other situations, watch out. 

“The league table speaks for itself, as does the gap between us and the rest — enormous gaps!”

If there’s a silver lining to be found for Conte is that he’s not the first Napoli saviour to come unstuck on his debut in Verona.

Four decades ago, a certain Argentine endured a difficult day as the Azzurri crashed to a 2-1 defeat against the Scaligeri. But things eventually turned out to be just fine for him and Napoli. 

Conte will be hoping history repeats itself.

Watch out for DC Audio and Video content, like this one from the Allianz Stadium with Emmet and David.