Live TMW
In view of Saturday’s match against Lecce, the Napoli coach Antonio Conte will speak today in the conference room of the Castel Volturno technical center to answer questions from the press starting from 2.30 pm. On Tuttomercatoweb.comas usual, the live text of the press conference.
2.30pm – The press conference begins
Should we expect massive turnover, moderate turnover, or turnover?
“Why? I don’t like talking about turnover, for me they’re all starters, then there are choices to make based on what I see, maybe some ailment that you can’t know even if I see that you know 85% of what happens (laughs, ed.) I will try to put the best formation on the pitch, the formation that I think is the right one also because there is a match to be played against Lecce to continue to get results and this is the basis of everything, then I still have tomorrow to make the final decisions and draw up the starting 11.”
What approach do you expect tomorrow? As you said, the first half in Empoli wasn’t done well.
“Yes, I hope for a different approach, in Empoli I don’t think it was an approach wanted by me or by the players, sometimes there are also opponents, external situations which then lead to finding those difficulties. We want to improve, do better than in Empoli “.
It’s a special match for you Napoli-Lecce, the day also features Inter-Juve. What stage is this day?
“You know very well that I never go and watch the other opponents, I think about our match and it must be like this for me, for the team, for the whole environment. There must be a match that allows us to increase points which will be useful to us when there will be difficulties. We are only focused on our game to give continuity to the results knowing that difficulties will come and we will have to overcome them.”
The match against Lecce is emotionally special for her, in the very stadium where she scored her first goal.
“There are feelings and then there is the profession. We need to divide things, not bring them together. It represents my origins, the dusty fields, my father’s team where I grew up, going through the whole process up to Serie A, and then moving to Juve at 21 is always part of my heart, no one takes it away from me. Then there’s the match, an opponent to beat.”
How is Raspadori? In what dualism do we place it?
“He is working well, like everyone else. I always see him very positive, concentrated, for me he is a striker, a second striker. How we are playing, a bit of what McTominay is doing, a striker and a second striker, he I see in that position.”
Is the Kvara renewal that has been dragging on since the summer bothering you? Are you talking to him about it?
“We’ve been talking about it for a while, there’s certainly a discussion between the club and the entourage of the player and the player himself. Going into precise details… there’s the club and the sporting director, they will possibly talk to them about figures. I don’t go into specific things. I can say, what I ask of Kvicha, that he continues to do what he is doing, focused on the season, he is serious, professional, exemplary, this season is very important for us, then I hope that things can be resolved by finding an agreement, but I also know that in football anything can happen and there must be an agreement that satisfies everyone, in any case I ask to honor the best to the best, doing our best until the end of the season. I’m not going further and I don’t want the player to go further, like the media and everyone, regardless of whether an agreement is reached or not, he must be totally concentrated as he is doing. I don’t see any problems, whoever lives will see.”
How did you see Lukaku? Do you already have any idea how to manage these breaks you’ve always had?
“He worked as always, he’s calm, I don’t see any problems in terms of management either, there’s nothing planned, I’ll decide based on what I see during the week or even in the match.”
Do you have the feeling that someone is waiting for the big match cycle to see Napoli in difficulty?
“We work every day to put ourselves in the best conditions for each match, the championship started with a defeat in Verona which was not foreseen and everything went down, then the opposite happened and we are at the top of the table. I always say to find a balance, is the basis of everything, I say this because I see certain things every day. I respect all opinions, often subjective because they do not evaluate reality, but we move forward thinking about ourselves, to grow, to improve, to shorten how much. first the path. Only those who have never won can say nonsense… I hear a lot of it around. Those who have won know what needs to be done to win again, to build solid and lasting foundations. Everyone can say what they want, often they are subjective judgements, we must be balanced and believe in the work, knowing that we will have moments even with negative results and that doesn’t mean we have to throw everything away.”
He tells us about the experience on the subway for the official photo. There is a close connection with the city.
“It was very nice, after many years of football it is the first time that I have participated in this situation. We took the photo of the Chiaia metro, among the 6 most beautiful in Europe, but I think that this bond with the city must be cultivated with love and we can only do it by giving everything, the city gives a lot and we must have the desire to reciprocate the passion that has always been there, it’s not that we arrive and it goes out. We are passing through, always, like others, but the passion here will never be passing through, but is fixed because Naples is love and passion”.
Neres is more in the running with Kvara than Politano in terms of characteristics, so who is Politano’s replacement?
“Yes, the other time you answered about Kvara-Neres, always taking into account that when you face teams that occupy the 5 offensive channels and there you have the obligation to lower either a winger like Politano or other teams lower a midfielder between the central players to make the line 5. I was also asked a question post-Empoli, it’s a tactical question, we lower Politano, but we could lower Lobo or Gilmour so as not to have inferiority in the 5 channels. If they don’t attack us in this way there is the possibility of seeing Neres together with Kvicha. Balance is the basis of everything, behind Matteo there are different solutions, we try them at every training session, there is an alter ego… let’s see, you will see in the future. and you will have the answer.”