Napoli needed a manager like Antonio Conte to restore the winning mentality that brought the team to dominate the Italian Serie A two years ago when they won the third Scudetto title in their history under Luciano Spalletti. Despite that success, however, last season was a complete disaster after the departure of the Italian manager, who was later on hired by the Italian FA and became the Italy head coach. Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis, who just celebrated his 20th year of ownership at the club, decided to appoint Rudi Garcia, but things didn't go well and in November was sacked and replaced by former Azzurri coach Walter Mazzarri. Once again, it didn't work out and after another sacking Napoli appointed Francesco Calzona for the final part of the season. The Azzurri were only waiting for the summer and to end a disappointing season as soon as possible, so that they could plan a better future.
The club hired a new sport director: Giovanni Manna, formerly of Juventus, replacing Cristiano Giuntoli, the mastermind of the recent success of the club, who made the reverse trip and became the new sport director of the Bianconeri. Manna, a young director with clear ideas, sat down with De Laurentiis to hire the new head coach. Napoli needed a manager with a strong personality, a winning mentality and the will to bring the club to the success in the shortest time possible. That's why there was only one name that could match this ambition: Antonio Conte.
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Antonio Conte's role
The Italian manager has the experience that Napoli need right now. His name brings the responsibility to win trophies, as he did everywhere he went apart from his Tottenham spell, but most importantly he brings the right mentality at the right time. Napoli needed a figure like Conte, who was waiting for the right opportunity to make his comeback in the Italian Serie A. After the Spurs experience, Conte strongly wanted to be back in his home country, also for personal reasons, but only a few clubs could appoint him. After coaching Juventus from 2011 to 2014 where he started a winning cycle that lasted for a decade, the Italian manager was called again to coach in Italy in 2019 by his former director Giuseppe Marotta to recreate the same success at Inter. Conte was able to win the Scudetto in his second season at the club, before leaving in May 2021. Three years later, Conte is back again in the Italian league with the same ambition and will to win trophies.
Conte's vision is not just limited to the daily work and the tactics. He wants to create a successful environment in all the areas of the club, recreating the same winning mentality from the pitch gardener to the kitman. Everyone is involved, and this is why he's also very careful on how he can improve the training center where he works everyday. Before the game against Cagliari, he spoke about it in the pre-match press conference: "I strongly believe that the training center can improve and this is an important asset for the club. When I arrived at Inter, it was a disaster but then we worked on some details and now it's one of the best around. If we do so here, I'm sure that having a top training center can give us some more points at the end of the season."
How to watch and odds
- Date: Saturday, Sept. 21 | Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
- Location: Allianz Stadium -- Turin, Italy
- Live stream: Paramount+
- Odds: Juventus +115; Draw: +230; Napoli +240
Not only Lukaku
Conte is also a very demanding head coach when it comes to the transfer window. When Napoli appointed him, he knew that striker Victor Osimhen had to leave, and despite it only happened at the end of the transfer window when he was loaned out to Galatasaray, the Italian coach asked to sign his former striker Romelu Lukaku as a replacement. Conte and Lukaku have a special relationship, as the manager wanted to sign him when he was at Chelsea, but then the Belgian moved to Manchester United. When Conte joined Inter, he was the first name he asked for. He strongly wanted to work with him, but then when it happened we understood why. Lukaku played his best football under him, also thanks to a great physical condition of former Conte's assistant Antonio Pintus, who is now the head of physio at Real Madrid. If Inter won that Scudetto, a lot had to do with the link between Lukaku and Conte.
The signings of players like Alessandro Buongiorno from Torino, Billy Gilmour from Brighton, Scott McTominay from Manchester United, David Neres from Benfica and free agent Leonardo Spinazzola, helped this team improve a lot this summer, as team star Kvicha Kvaratskelia didn't leave the club as well.
Focus on the league
Last but not least, Napoli won't participate in any European competition this year, after the big disappointment of the 2023-24 season when they ended up tenth. With only one game to focus on every week, Conte can work much more on his tactics on a daily basis, with less matches in the calendar. An ideal scenario for a new manager when he comes in, as he also did when he arrived at Juventus in 2011. Also, considering the new format of the three European tournaments, Napoli are playing at least eight games less between now and January compared to their top Serie A rivals. For sure, this gives also more pressure to Conte and his team, but pressure is a word that doesn't impress a manager like Conte. Napoli are back and Saturday's clash against Juventus will tell us much more about their form but won't change the direction of the work of Antonio Conte at the club.
