Conte’s harsh words for Napoli players: ‘I don’t want to accompany a dead man’

La Repubblica reports that Antonio Conte had ‘harsh words’ for Napoli players, especially dressing room leaders, after a 2-0 loss against Bologna: ‘I don’t want to accompany a dead man.’

Conte was fuming after Napoli’s loss against Bologna on Sunday, the fifth defeat across all competitions for the Partenopei this term.

The Italian tactician blamed himself and the team during a post-match interview with DAZN, but according to Repubblica, there was also a heated dressing room confrontation at full time in which ‘harsh words were exchanged, especially toward the leaders.’

Conte’s frustration was palpable also during his post-match press conference, in which the strongest line surely was: “I don’t want to accompany a dead man.”

Conte is expected to meet President Aurelio De Laurentiis this week and even if the Italian tactician is not considering resigning, he surely expects help from the club to turn things around.

Napoli have lost five games across all competitions this season, three in Serie A and two in the Champions League, and are two points below league leaders Roma and Inter.

“Surely, I can’t not be worried. Five defeats since the start of the season are too many, especially for a team that was labelled as one that was supposed to kill the league without even sweating,” Conte said during his post-match press conference at the Dall’Ara on Sunday.

“When you lose, it’s never a coincidence. You can lose one of two, but five means that something has been repeated. I already tried to face this situation 20 days ago, trying to convey my emotions and my thoughts to the most experienced players.

“We have to make assessments. I’ll talk to the club, but they already knew what I was feeling. We still don’t have that chemistry, that desire to fight together and go beyond the obstacles that we had last season. I don’t know if we’ll be able to change these things,” continued Conte.

“One thing is to talk about the pitch, technique and tactics, but when you see other things, I’m sorry, it means I’m not doing a good job and that I didn’t enter the players’ minds and souls, so the club must be aware of it, but they already are.

“We must do something. I don’t want to accompany a dead man; this must be clear. If we want to do something together, it’s fine; otherwise, we all have to take responsibility. I always do it. I don’t like what I’m seeing, and eventually I’m the first one to take responsibility. Sometimes it’s easy to hide behind others, but until we have time, we must all take responsibility.

“Four months have passed, and I haven’t done a good job because I don’t see positive energy, I don’t see chemistry and a team that wants to go beyond obstacles. I see everyone thinking about their own problems, but if we want to change this trend, we still have time. I don’t like the way we lost this fifth game, and I don’t have to protect them. I can’t even protect myself because it’s clear that I haven’t done a good job in four months, and I’m the first one to be responsible.”