Constant moaner Conte could never last long in ADL’s Napoli | OneFootball

Antonio Conte and Aurelio De Laurentiis were always going to end up butting heads at Napoli and it’s just remarkable it has taken this long, writes Susy Campanale.

The moment Conte was appointed as the new coach at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, it was inevitable this union would go up in flames. There may well be success along the way, including a Serie A title, but it was always going to end in a fiery confrontation. After all, De Laurentiis is the patron who loves to soak up all the credit and pass the buck on any blame, while Conte has a guaranteed pattern of hitting out angrily and publicly at his clubs. It was all so painfully predictable.

Aurelio De Laurentiis unveiling new Napoli manager Antonio Conte

Scott McTominay said after the scraped 1-0 victory over rock bottom Monza that the coach “is very demanding,” and that can be both a compliment and a criticism. How many times must we go through the same litany of complaints in every job he has?

Conte left Juventus after three consecutive Serie A trophies just days into pre-season training, insisting he could not continue growing their success with the resources at his disposal. “You cannot sit down at a restaurant with €100 menus and only have €10 each. There are European sides we cannot match on an economic level, I doubt we’ll see an Italian team in the Champions League Final for many years.” He watched Max Allegri add another two Scudetti, plus reach the Champions League Final, something that his predecessor has never been able to achieve.

Antonio Conte (L) celebrates with Christian Eriksen

Conte continued the trend with Inter, walking out after the Scudetto celebrations and maintaining he could not possibly top this with their financial strategy. Simone Inzaghi not only won the Serie A title and a bunch of other trophies, but has given them sustained Champions League presence with by far the lowest budget of any club in the quarter-finals.

Tottenham Hotspur certainly couldn’t be accused of being tight-fisted on the transfer market – incompetent yes, but holding back no. Yet Conte managed the piece de resistance of his career tantrums by storming out mid-season, pointing out loudly that “Tottenham’s story is this – 20 years there is this owner and they never won something. Why?”

Conte’s Napoli rant was all too predictable

EMPOLI, ITALY – OCTOBER 20: Antonio Conte manager of SSC Napoli celebrates the victory after during the Serie A match between Empoli and Napoli at Stadio Carlo Castellani on October 20, 2024 in Empoli, Italy. (Photo by Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images)

With this history behind him, coming to Napoli was not so much a brave decision as a foolish one. Conte was never going to do anything other than fight with De Laurentiis, who in true Hollywood movie producer style will cut the budget, refuse simple requests, take all the credit when something goes well and shift the blame if it goes badly.

It seems the catalyst for the collapse was not failing to sign any of the January transfer target – Alejandro Garnacho, Karim Adeyemi, Pietro Comuzzo – but the injury to David Neres. Happening a few minutes before the press conference, Conte was in a rage about the state of the training pitches, blaming them for muscular injuries and pointing out they were meant to be fixed by now. This all represents “things you just cannot do at Napoli.”

Conte is forever torn by the ambition to win silverware and the constant complaining about his resources. I’d suggest he only take over clubs with massive budgets and a history of success, but the fact is he’d struggle there too, because those fans and media would expect such an outlandish idea as good football. Can’t have that. So he’ll be stuck eternally moaning that he’s performing miracles, even when others follow with double the results and half the expense. It just won’t be at Napoli.