Napoli shine at Gran Galà: six up for awards, Conte among top managers | OneFootball

The nominations for the 2024/25 Gran Galà del Calcio confirm Napoli's significant presence in the Serie A landscape. Six players from the team have been selected among the best performers of the season, while Antonio Conte appears in the shortlist of coaches nominated for the most prestigious award reserved for managers.

Napoli, key players at the Gran Galà del Calcio: six players in the running and Conte among the top coaches

The ceremony will be held on December 1st, a date that could become symbolic for a team currently experiencing a delicate internal phase.

All the Napoli candidates: an impressive presence in every department

The official list of nominations highlights a clear fact: Napoli is among the most represented clubs and is also a candidate for the award of the best club of the year, alongside Bologna and Inter.

These are the Napoli players in the running:

Defense: Di Lorenzo, Buongiorno, Rrahmani

Midfield: McTominay, Lobotka

Attack: Lukaku

This distribution reflects the overall quality of the squad and the depth of individual roles, a central element in Conte's construction.

The other nominations: the protagonists of Serie A 2024/25

Goalkeepers: Svilar, De Gea, Sommer Defenders: Di Lorenzo, Dodò, Dumfries, Angelino, Dimarco, Tavares, Acerbi, Bastoni, Buongiorno, Rrahmani, N’Dicka Midfielders: Barella, Calhanoglu, Lobotka, McTominay, Paz, Reijnders Forwards: Lautaro Martinez, Lookman, Lukaku, Kean, Retegui, Thuram Coaches: Conte, Fabregas, Ranieri Clubs: Bologna, Inter, Napoli Referees: Aureliano, Chiffi, Doveri

A list that highlights the competitive level of the championship, in a season marked by great balance.

Conte and Napoli's moment: between internal tensions and the need to rebuild the atmosphere

Beyond the nominations, the team is experiencing a complex phase psychologically. Corriere dello Sport captures the situation with clear words: “the team must regain the lightness and desire to have fun that seem lost – based on the matches – but the operation cannot exclude Conte. It is up to the coach to restore the spirit, hitting the right notes and finding the lost harmony along with the smiles.”

The crisis, according to the newspaper, was generated precisely by the coach's statements after the defeat in Bologna: “it was Conte who opened an internal crisis by citing the lack of heart and the selfishness of the players (alias small-mindedness) and specifying that the team is no longer such.”

Words that have marked a boundary: on one side, the coach's desire to shake up the environment, on the other, the risk of straining the relationship with some members of the locker room.

The week of truth: internal confrontation and rebuilding unity

The newspaper adds a crucial point: “Words carved in stone and as hard as stone itself, but also a point: now it will be up to the coach and the group to decide if it will be a restart or a point of no return. When the group also reunites with the national players, let's say midweek, a useful confrontation will be inevitable to settle the situation once and for all.”

Napoli, currently second in the league and still competing on four fronts, cannot afford an internal fracture just as the season might be entering its crucial phase. The immediate goal is to “regain normality,” which has been lacking since the match in Bologna.

An apparent paradox: individual recognition and collective tensions

The significant presence of Napoli in the nominations highlights an only apparent contradiction: in terms of individual values, the team remains among the strongest in the league; emotionally, however, it is experiencing one of its most complicated phases in recent years.

The Gran Galà del Calcio could thus become a moment of reflection: the confirmation of individual value must transform into energy to rebuild the group and relaunch the season.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.