Conte working managerial magic at Napoli

Opinion

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This article was published 17/01/2025 (235 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Their title-winning season hadn’t even finished when manager Luciano Spalletti announced he’d be leaving Napoli in the spring of 2023.

Barely a month after celebrating that first Scudetto since Maradona’s last in 1990, Serie A’s Miglior difensore, Defender of the Year Kim Min-jae, departed for Bayern Munich. Barely a month after that, Mexico’s first Italian champion, Chucky Lozano, moved back to Holland, from where he’d come.

One campaign, three head coaches and a 10th-place finish later, leading goal-scorer Victor Osimhen joined Galatasaray, pivotal midfielder Piotr Zielinski signed with Inter Milan and, as if the proud and so recently successful club hadn’t been sufficiently shaken, its ownership altered its badge.

It was into this turmoil that Antonio Conte arrived. What has followed is nothing less than a managerial master class.

In retrospect, that 3-0 defeat to Hellas Verona in his first game in charge only served to show him what he was working with. Napoli were 3-0 winners the next week at home to Bologna, and they didn’t lose their second Serie A match this term for another two-and-a-half months.

What changed?

The lineup? Only a little. Last Sunday, again against Verona, the goalkeeper and four defenders were identical to those that began the season. The midfielders were also the same, as was one of the forwards. Just the three changes, then. They might be a good place to start.

The incoming midfielder, Scott McTominay, was acquired in August from Manchester United in what seemed at the time, and still sort of does, to be a particularly strange piece of business. A Scotland international in Naples? As it turns out, yes. And how.

McTominay has never been one to glide through a match, and Conte has put his work rate to, well, work. The 28-year-old has started all but one Serie A match to date — when he came off the bench. He’s scored five goals in all competitions, and as part of a midfield trio with Stanislav Lobotka and Frank Zambo Anguissa he’s not only fit in but made both players more effective.

That they play together at all is down to a tactical adjustment Conte made in the autumn when he switched from a 3-4-3 with wing-backs to a more straightforward 4-3-3. He needed McTominay to effect the adjustment. Oh, and Napoli beat Verona 2-0 the second time of asking.

Next up is Romelu Lukaku. The striker, incidentally, was a teammate of McTominay’s at United and a player of Conte’s at Inter Milan, where the two won the Scudetto in 2021. The Belgium international has long had a reputation for being difficult to motivate, although Conte fancies himself the Romelu-whisperer.

Earlier this week Lukaku admitted that Conte nearly axed him from the Inter squad for lacking effort in training. He also revealed that ever since he’s appreciated how the coach has been able to connect with and encourage him.

The results speak for themselves. Only four players in the Italian top flight have more goals than Lukaku in 2024-25. Even more impressive, however, is the six assists he’s compiled so far. He’s running, working and using his teammates. Consider Osimhen replaced.

Not so Kvicha Kvaratskhelia.

Italian football’s Migliore in assoluto, or MVP, when Napoli secured their Scudetto, the Georgia winger posted a video Thursday in which he announced he’d played his final match for the club. By Friday he was in Paris to finalize a contract with PSG. Far from being forced out — he was so admired he earned the nickname “Kvaradona” – he simply had his head turned by the money on offer at Parc-des-Princes.

More disruption for Napoli, then, though at this point it’s more the norm for Conte than stability. Although he continues to scour the transfer market for Kvaratskhelia’s long-term replacement — Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho is an option — he’s already managed to plug the hole left by the 23-year-old, at least temporarily.

Following a December defeat to Lazio, the manager sent David Neres into the breach.

Mostly on the periphery of the squad after arriving in Naples from Lisbon, the Brazilian started the next five games in succession, all wins, and contributed assists against Udinese and Genoa and scored the winner against Fiorentina. Lukaku and McTominay found the back of the net in that match as well.

Between the three of them, they represent the ingenuity, adaptability and steady hand in a difficult period Conte continues to provide. The former Juventus, Chelsea and Italy boss is also nothing if not pragmatic. His Napoli team might not be as swashbuckling as Spalletti’s group, but they know their strengths.

Through 20 rounds they’ve conceded just 12 goals, and ahead of Saturday’s showdown with Atalanta (1:45 p.m.) they’re once again atop the table. It’s a good place to be as they kick off by far their most difficult stretch of the schedule.

It’s also only the halfway point of the winter transfer period. In other words, Conte can probably count on further disturbance.

At the same time, it’s because of Conte that Serie A can count on Napoli contending for another Scudetto. The man is simply unshakable.

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