Napoli Coach Comes Face To Face With Legacy He Built – & Abandoned – At Inter Milan In Serie A Clash | OneFootball

Tomorrow evening, Napoli coach Antonio Conte will come face to face with a legacy he built – and abandoned – at Inter Milan.

This is the view in today’s print edition of Rome-based newspaper La Repubblica, via FCInterNews.

Conte spent a total of two seasons as Inter coach.

This was not all that long a period in charge. But it was characteristic of the famously temperamental coach’s career to date.

Conte had enjoyed great success with the likes of Juventus and Chelsea previously. But he left them after three and two seasons respectively.

And it was almost an identical story at Inter. Conte joined the Nerazzurri when they were in a period of growth, but he accelerated that greatly.

After finishing second in the Serie A table and reaching the Europa League final in his first season at the club, Conte guided Inter to their first Scudetto in more than a decade in his second campaign.

Antonio Conte Comes Face-To-Face With Legacy He Built – And Abandoned – At Inter Milan

Conte’s decision to leave Inter right after guiding the club to the title was the result of problems behind the scenes. Particularly financially.

Inter were in a COVID-ear financial crisis at the end of the 2020-21 campaign.

That meant that the writing was on the wall that the Nerazzurri would have to make big name sales.

By the end of that summer, both Achraf Hakimi and Romelu Lukaku had left for massive fees.

It was Simone Inzaghi who took over from Conte. The former Lazio coach played with a 3-5-2 formation like his predecessor, but has a very different attitude and tactical philosophy.

The adjustment period was not exactly easy or instant.

Inter failed to defend their Serie A title in Inzaghi’s first season at the helm. This perhaps owed to a lack of mental fortitude like they’d had under Conte.

But Inzaghi has taken Inter forward with each season. He has surpassed Conte in both longevity and in his trophy haul.

Still, Conte’s fingerprints are on this Inter team.

It was the 54-year-old who built the core of this squad with players like Nicolo Barella and Alessandro Bastoni. He also made now-captain Lautaro Martinez a regular starter.

Conte decided to leave Inter. He had a very mixed spell at Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League.

And now the 54-year-old is at Napoli. He has the Partenopei top of the table after a very positive start to the campaign.

But just behind Conte are Inter. Tomorrow, the two teams will meet.

And the Napoli coach will be hoping that he doesn’t regret leaving the foundations that he did to Inzaghi and the Nerazzurri when the final whistle blows at the San Siro.