Napoli manager Antonio Conte addressed the media in a press conference ahead of his team’s upcoming match against Torino. The league leaders are set to play on Sunday at 15:00 after their recent 1-0 victory over Roma.
Conte began by discussing the current state of the team and the league: “We must be realistic. We’re only at the thirteenth matchday and there are six teams within a few points of each other. The championship is balanced, in my opinion, I don’t think it will remain like this until the end. Already by the end of the first half of the season, it will start to stretch out a bit, but we’re pleased: it shows that the work we’re doing is good and I’m happy. Day by day we’re laying important foundations and I see continuous growth as a team but also individually.”
The Napoli coach then spoke about facing Paolo Vanoli, his former collaborator at Inter: “Paolo is a serious guy, a hard worker. When the opportunity arose, I brought him with me. He worked in my staff. He’s a curious, good guy. I was sorry when he decided to break away to take a different path, but at the same time I was proud to have been able to give something to him and he gave me something in those years.”
Conte then shared his thoughts on the current state of Italian football: “The European Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday have confirmed that in Italy we are starting to have a very high tactical and technical level. Otherwise, you don’t impose yourself in this way as Inter, Atalanta, Juventus at Aston Villa are doing because I know what stadium it is, Milan, without neglecting Roma. Roma is a great team, they’ve shown it at Tottenham, which I know very well and has a squad really favored to be able to fight for the Premier League. Fiorentina, Lazio itself. Italian football has grown significantly and today it has to face strong teams as they also demonstrate in Europe.”
Finally, Conte commented on Raspadori, who has seen limited playing time: “For Jack, the same goes for the others. He’s a strong player, I intend to strengthen Napoli and not weaken it, this must be clear to everyone for the present and for the future. We only participate in the championship, the boys don’t have the possibility of other outlets in other competitions, it’s difficult to give playing time even if then you see Raspadori after the starters is perhaps the most used compared to the others. He’s growing, I have my own idea about Giacomo and I’m very happy.”
