The Partenopei have taken just three points from their last four games going into Saturday's showdown at the Maradona
Antonio Conte was typically testy after Sunday's surprising 2-1 loss at Como, which led to his Napoli side being displaced at the summit of Serie A by Inter.
When he was asked if he felt if the young man in the home dugout, Cesc Fabregas, was capable of having a career as "fortunate" as his own, Conte quickly countered, "A fortunate career? No, a successful career. You have to be careful with your words. Everything I've achieved, I've achieved because I broke my back."
And that's precisely why Conte was in such foul form on the banks of the beautiful Lake Como. As he said himself, his players had initially responded well to the concession of an early own goal, drawing level soon after through Giacomo Raspadori to go in all-square at the break, but simply didn't turn up for the second half.
"Today," Conte continued, "we were Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde. And it's not the first time it's happened this season."
Indeed, much like Naples itself, there are two sides to Conte's team, and nobody is quite sure which one will turn up for Saturday's Scudetto showdown with Inter at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona…
Getty Images SportStruggling to see any positives
Napoli pulled their first disappearing act in Conte's very first game as coach. "We melted like snow in the sun," he fumed after the 3-0 loss at Verona on the opening day of the season.
Conte felt compelled to apologise to the fans for his side's second-half no-show at the Marcantonio Bentegodi, and while he took responsibility for the defeat, he also made some disparaging references to Napoli's activity in the transfer market.
Given the well-travelled coach has plenty of previous when it comes to complaining about his employers' perceived parsimony, it was extremely disconcerting for Partenopei supporters to hear their new coach expressing his dissatisfaction with the "situation" he had found the club in. "I expected more positives but I've struggled to find any," he ominously revealed.
Even by Conte's standards, that was one hell of a public rebuke after just one match in charge.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportReinforcements finally arrive
In fairness to Conte, though, his frustration was understandable. Napoli made a complete mess of Victor Osimhen's pre-planned exit (even if the player and his representatives must also take a significant share of the blame for the club's most valuable asset ending up on loan at Galatasaray), and that unexpected shambles effectively put the Partenopei's summer recruitment strategy on hold for several weeks.
However, when Napoli finally began to bring in some of Conte's transfer targets, he started to work his magic. A team that had finished 10th in 2023-24 suddenly looked as formidable as the champions of the season before.
Just a week after the Verona debacle, Napoli embarked upon a nine-game undefeated run in which they took 25 points from a possible 27 – and summer signings Romelu Lukaku (a Conte favourite), Scott McTominay and Alessandro Buongiorno were all integral to the sudden upturn in form.
AFPMore frustration in the market
Napoli were by no means the finished article, though, and Conte knew it. He was repeatedly at pains to point out that what his players were doing was "not normal", and his side's shortcomings were exposed in home defeats to Atalanta and Lazio in the lead-up to Christmas.
Nonetheless, as the close of the winter window approached, Napoli were once again on another hot streak, winning seven games in a row between December 14 and January 25, culminating in a come-from-behind win over Juventus that confirmed the Partenopei as legitimate title contenders. However, the transfer market was once again proving a source of immense irritation for Conte – and, once again, it was easy to understand why.
Getty Images SportNo replacement for 'Kvaradona'
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia's January move to Paris Saint-Germain was an undoubted blow for Napoli, but it shouldn't have been anything close to fatal. The deal had been coming since last summer, and it was presumed that a significant chunk of the €70 million (£58m/$73m) raised from selling the Georgian would be immediately reinvested in a championship-chasing squad.
Napoli were, at the very least, expected to sign a worthy replacement for Kvaratskhelia, whose form had fluctuated wildly since his Scudetto-winning heroics in 2022-23, and Alejandro Garnacho was Conte's No.1 choice. However, Napoli not only failed to agree personal teams with the Manchester United winger, they couldn't convince Karim Adeyemi to join from Borussia Dortmund either.
Consequently, they ended up taking Noah Okafor on loan from AC Milan on deadline day – a deal that smacked of desperation and did absolutely nothing to boost the first team's title tilt.
