Conte: ‘Napoli have to take games by the scruff of the neck’ | OneFootball

Antonio Conte insists he did not need to change anything for Napoli’s comeback victory against Udinese. ‘We’ve got to be realistic and learn if we want to win, we’ve got to take games by the scruff of the neck.’

The mood in the Partenopei camp was not good coming into the Bluenergy Stadium in Udine, having lost back-to-back games against Lazio that knocked them out of the Coppa Italia and off the top of the Serie A table.

It got even worse when Florian Thauvin converted on the rebound from a penalty saved by Alex Meret to give Udinese the lead, but Romelu Lukaku, a Lautaro Giannetti own goal caused by the strong David Neres run and late Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa finish turned it around.

“We should not let the result confuse us, we were trailing 1-0, but that was a fluke because we controlled the game from start to finish. I didn’t even see the incident leading to the penalty, but it’s not as if we changed much from one half to the next,” Conte told DAZN.

“We played with character and quality, we had chances in the first half that were not taken, we need to continue along this path. I said it after the defeat to Lazio too, our team needs to play this type of football, keeping the ball, trying to dominate the match, pressing high and not leaving the initiative to the other team.

“Udinese are a very good side and I saw a strong response from my lads.”

Conte waiting for Napoli process

UDINE, ITALY – DECEMBER 14: David Neres of Napoli competes for the ball with Kingsley Ehizibue of Udinese Calcio during the Serie A match between Udinese and Napoli at Stadio Friuli on December 14, 2024 in Udine, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

David Neres was the only change from the starting XI that lost to Lazio last week, and that was forced by the injury to Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

“David has been training with us for a long time. Kvara and Politano were preferred, but I knew that I had a strong player who has improved a lot in every aspect over the last five months, including physically and the way he helps out the defence. He is a valuable option on the right or the left,” assured Conte.

“We don’t just train 11 players throughout the week, we train 22 of them, so that when someone misses out, they all know what plan to follow. Neres works hard, has quality and now has even more chance to show what he can do during Kvara’s injury.”

This 3-1 victory allows Conte’s Napoli to stay within two points of leaders Atalanta, who had already won 1-0 away to Cagliari earlier this afternoon.

“We are working hard and have only just started this journey. We can try to speed up the process, but we still need to go through it and cannot think of finding any massive short-cuts,” concluded Conte.

“We’ve got to be realistic, not be afraid of anyone or anything, learning that if we want to win, we have to go and take that victory. It’s what we did today, we saw we’ll be gifted nothing, we’ve got to take games by the scruff of the neck.”