Conte: All Napoli hear ‘is criticism’, I don’t understand one thing about VAR
Napoli coach Antonio Conte defends his team as he only hears ‘criticism’ and argues that ‘all hell broke loose’ as soon as he spoke about referees.
Conte held a press conference on Monday on the eve of a Champions League match against Eintracht Frankfurt.
The Partenopei were held to a 0-0 Serie A draw by Como on Saturday, and they’ll be short of options in attack tomorrow as Romelu Lukaku is injured and Lorenzo Lucca is suspended.
This means Rasmus Hojlund will be the only centre-forward available at the Maradona on Tuesday.
“Who do you consider forwards? Lang and Neres are wingers for a 4-3-3, like Politano,” Conte said via TuttoNapoli.
“In modern football, there isn’t just one phase. There are two, especially for that role. You attack with eleven and defend with eleven. There are no real differences between Neres, Politano, Lang, Spinazzola and Elmas, only different characteristics.”
Napoli have only scored one goal in the last two league games, but Conte did not see any issue and hit back at critics.
“Someone must have been scoring. We’re top of the table,” he said.
“Before these last two matches, people were talking about a lack of solidity. Now we’ve kept two clean sheets, and the talk is about the attack. You’re always looking for the glass half empty. We’ve faced incredible difficulties since the start of the season and still do. Yet, when you look at the table, Napoli are right there, but all we hear is criticism.
“Expectations were absurdly inflated; we were supposed to dominate everyone, and every new signing was expected to revolutionise the team,” Conte continued.
“We’ve been missing key players like Lukaku, who is fundamental. De Bruyne got injured, Rrahmani just came back, Lobotka and others have been hurt. We’ve overcome all that, and still, you look at the table and wonder: how did they do it? Do you ask yourself that? I said we needed more goals, yes, but what matters is winning. How many more goals has Anguissa scored? Three more than last season, let’s be serious!
“The Neapolitan people must always stay united with the team and shout out the noise. Napoli fans are dreamers, and those coming from outside know how easy it is to hype things up or tear them down and create depression,” added the Italian tactician.
“Let’s stay compact, listen to the coach and the players, who are the only ones who truly care about the team. From the outside, it’s all about interests. It’s going to be a tough season, so we have to stick together. Credit to the lads, despite everything, when I look at the standings, we’re still up there.
“Napoli being up there bothers people. Napoli fighting for the top spots bothers people. I get that. Others need to understand it too. Despite all the difficulties, we’re still there, and that scares them.”
Billy Gilmour and Leonardo Spinazzola will be assessed today after suffering injuries in the previous match.
Napoli have only earned three points in three Champions League matches, and tomorrow they host a German team, but is the Bundesliga on a higher level than Serie A?
“I don’t think we are behind the Bundesliga; the level is about the same,” Conte replied.
“Right now, the only league out of reach is the Premier League because of their financial power and infrastructure. As for Germany, we might envy a league with fewer matches; it’s an advantage. They rest during the winter and then resume; we don’t have that. Beyond that, Bayern are on another level. A strong club, with strong players. They run their own race. Then there are other quality sides, Bayer Leverkusen, Eintracht, Stuttgart, and Borussia, but these teams are on our level, and the league is on par with ours.”
Lastly, and not so reluctantly as he wanted to show, Conte spoke about referees, reigniting a war of words with Inter President Beppe Marotta.
Conte on VAR and referees
“I’m not going to talk about refereeing. The moment you start mentioning referees, even slightly, and raise an issue, they get confused,” said the Napoli coach.
“You’ve seen it. As soon as someone spoke up, all hell broke loose. Everything happened and more. Let’s not talk about referees, or we’ll confuse them even further. It’s a shame because sometimes you see the system isn’t built on solid foundations. At the first gust of wind, when someone tried to speak up to improve Italian football, look at what happens.
“I’m talking reality here. Let’s leave them calm and hope they pay attention. What I don’t understand is, when there’s a monitor right there, why isn’t the referee called to review an incident? And when he is, that shouldn’t automatically mean there’s an error, or that he must change his decision.
“The referee might have seen it correctly! If you call him, it’s because you think there’s a mistake, but in some cases, they have made the right call. We need to be careful; the situation is fragile. Let’s be collaborative, but in the right way, not like in the past.”