Conte to Dazn: We’ve got work to do, tough season ahead | OneFootball

Antonio Conte’s Napoli falls again. After the Champions League defeat against Benfica, the Azzurri also lose to Udinese, due to Ekkelenkamp’s goal—who seems to transform whenever he faces the Partenopei. The Friulani deserved the victory; Conte’s men appeared tired, out of breath, and lacking ideas. The coach from Lecce spoke to Dazn’s microphones at the end of the match.

Udinese-Napoli, Conte’s words to Dazn’s microphones at the end of the match

Antonio Conte’s comments at the end of Udinese-Napoli, which ended bitterly for the Azzurri, who left the Dacia Arena defeated thanks to Ekkelenkamp’s great goal in the second half.

On the match

“The first half was one where Udinese never even shot on goal. We created several chances that we should have made more of. The second half started with a lot of difficulty, we made some very rough clearances. From that point on, there was a bit of fear, it was visible. In the first 20 minutes of the second half, two goals were disallowed, they hit the crossbar, and we were worried and fearful. We have a lot of work to do, I always say it, we need to be good in both positive and negative moments. Experience must be used on the pitch, we need to take our time, use our know-how.”

On managing difficulties, due to injuries and more

“You know… your analysis is accurate, I told the guys that we need to be good at handling these moments. But they have to manage it themselves, with cunning, maybe wasting time… on the pitch. We mustn’t lose courage; in the end, you invite a goal if you don’t change your attitude. There’s work to do, we are… I have nothing to reproach these guys for, who are giving everything in an emergency. Away from home, we absolutely need to do better, talk more, show more character. That’s where the person on the pitch needs to make himself heard. I can work on the technical and tactical side, but psychologically I try to find the right way, and often there are players who have charisma and personality. We must and can grow; there are many guys who are excellent, but I have to help them develop.”

The concern regarding so many injuries

“You know, I sounded the alarm even when we were winning. There’s not much to say, we knew at the start of the year, when you play in so many competitions you worry about building a squad that’s up to the task: when, for external reasons, the squad gets reduced, you have to hold on. You have to pay a price somewhere, and precisely because of this, we have to keep going. We mustn’t lose motivation or enthusiasm. The season won’t be easy for us. The important thing is to have the desire, we have to face difficulties with determination. I don’t want to keep repeating the same things, we have to move forward, the whole environment does. The season won’t be simple, we want to fight and keep doing so. Away from home, we need to work and improve, these situations… these 20 minutes we conceded today… we need to get better at managing these situations. When the match turns in the opponent’s favor, we need to improve.”

Francesco Landi

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