Lorenzo Lucca and Noa Lang, who cost a combined sixty million euros, have already been shown the door, a move that effectively amounts to an admission of failure. Significant money has been invested, but the results have not followed. The league table has become increasingly complicated and at the moment the Scudetto race seems like a dream.
Inter are moving at a completely different pace, while Napoli continue to stumble. Since January seventh, they have recorded four draws, a 2-2 against Verona, a 2-2 against Inter, a goalless draw with Parma, and a 1-1 against Copenhagen, alongside a narrow 1-0 win over Sassuolo and a heavy 3-0 defeat against Juventus. The match against the Bianconeri was a genuine humiliation. It was a one sided contest, dominated by Juventus, who won comfortably and could easily have scored more.
Six shots on target to one summed up an extraordinary display of superiority by Luciano Spalletti and his team, especially against his former supporters. Juventus are constantly improving, and their growing momentum in the league could even fuel ambitions beyond the expected, which made the comparison with Napoli particularly ruthless.
Injury crisis
Beyond the failures in the transfer market and ongoing tactical issues, Napoli are also dealing with far too many physical problems. The latest concerns Vanja Milinkovic-Savic and David Neres, two regular starters who will miss several key matches. The reality is that Napoli can no longer afford mistakes and the Azzurri now face a series of complex and delicate fixtures.
In the league they will play Fiorentina, Genoa, Roma and then they will face Como in Coppa Italia. It is a difficult and sensitive moment, one in which the Azzurri will have to dig deep. The problem is that they will be up against highly motivated opponents fighting for their own objectives: Fiorentina and Genoa, for example, are desperately seeking points to stay in Serie A, making any turnaround far from simple for Scott McTominay and his teammates.
The Conte effect appears to have faded and Napoli no longer resemble one of his teams. There is no fighting spirit, no aggression and none of the trademarks that have defined his sides over the years. Another key issue is that it will not be easy for Conte to rely on upcoming transfer windows for solutions. Napoli invested heavily last summer and several of those signings have proven disastrous.
Giovane enough?
Before the defeat against Juventus, Giovane arrived, a talented player who impressed with Verona, but far more will be required to climb the table. Above all, Napoli must rediscover the typical spirit of Conte’s teams.
He is a coach who has repeatedly shown that he can extract the maximum even from technically limited squads, thanks to his personality and his ability to get inside his players’ minds. Conte has several great players, but they are not playing at their best.
In this difficult moment, Napoli supporters hope this is merely a temporary slump, because there is no margin for further errors. The risk of slipping into fifth or sixth place in the event of more defeats is very real and that would be unacceptable.