Not participating in the Cups is worth a six-seven point advantage in the championship for an important team. This is why Conte’s, Lukaku’s, Kvara’s and Buongiorno’s Napoli have all the credentials to win the Scudetto. Antonio is a factor when it comes to Serie A. The coach is a master at motivating the group, at creating healthy pressure, at running for nine months. I imagine a Napoli that starts at a hundred miles an hour also because a historical base has remained. Lukaku will score fewer goals than Osimhen but will make his teammates score more. Kvara will have a thousand reasons to show off after trying to force the hand to go to PSG. And the whole group, starting with Di Lorenzo who left the European Championship with broken bones, wants to start a new cycle. Today Spalletti at Napoli is just a pleasant memory. And thanks to Conte, even Giuntoli’s departure weighs less. Only the unknown De Laurentiis remains on the Neapolitan planet. Will he accept going back to being just President? I bet on exemplary behavior in the first month. But then? We’ll see if Conte will be able to win this first, decisive, battle. Not to be “invaded” by his owner.
The disastrous European Championship also weighs on Chiesa’s future. Juve has included him in the list of departures and the big names in the world have forgotten about him. Federico has reached a delicate point in his career. Either he relaunches himself in a big way, becoming what he had shown at the beginning of his career, or he will remain a good player.
But nothing more. The Roma challenge could be a good opportunity. Chiesa needs to play consistently, to feel like a full-time starter. The Olimpico is a noble stage. Daniele De Rossi is a coach who knows how to enhance the human material that is made available to him. I am curious to see what Chiesa will do. Coach Spalletti is also waiting for his first performances.
I am curious to evaluate Ibra’s first market. Milan, to return to being a top reality in Italy and Europe, needs a great striker. The most popular name at the moment is Morata. Nothing to say about the value of the Spaniard. But is he the high-goal centre-forward that the new Rossoneri coach Fonseca needs? Would there be a sensational leap in quality between the old Giraud and Morata? Honestly, this hypothesis does not convince me.
I close with Vincenzo Italiano who today gets going with Bologna. His is a true Mission Impossible. He must live with the fifth place and the Champions qualification of the last season, with a coach like Thiago Motta who had bewitched everyone. He will also have to start without Calafiori (the best Italian defender) and without Zirkzee (one of the best European strikers). Italiano has accepted a terrible challenge. His only hope is that the sports director Sartori continues to work miracles.