Napoli & Conte silence critics with confident victory over Atalanta

It is a fair testament to Napoli’s growing status at a club when they can attract criticism from a seemingly enviable position.

After the 2-0 loss at Bologna a fortnight ago, there was talk of ‘crisis’ at Napoli, with growing tensions speculated upon in the media between Antonio Conte and the club’s upper management. However, two weeks later and the Partenopei have wrapped up a competent 3-1 victory against Atalanta and sit at the top of the table, pending tomorrow’s results.

Strange to entertain talk of a crisis at a club who won the league last season and have made good progress towards repeating that feat this season. Whilst their Champions League campaign has got off to a bit of a false start, Conte’s side have faced tough opposition in the continental tournament and should still be able to finish at least within the top 24 of the league phase and avoid immediate elimination.

These crises talked about in the media are indicative of the social media generation. Fans are more reactionary than ever and inflammatory or devise content is used to generate reaction and clicks. The desire to find controversy and drama where there is none has manipulated the way some consume football and anyone sensible knows that there is no ‘crisis’ at Napoli.

Yes there will be problems. Yes there have been problems. Injuries to star players like Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne and Rasmus Hojlund have hindered Conte’s side but even missing a handful of their best players for a chunk of the campaign so far has not stopped the Neapolitan side from topping the league.

If anything, it looks like the talk of ‘crisis’ at Napoli only goes to further light a fire under Conte and his team.

It is still only November. Only half of the league phase games for this year’s Champions League have been played and Conte’s side have just finished their 12th of 38 league matches in Serie A.

It is far too early, then, to judge a team that finished last season as champions.

Perhaps talk of crisis will be justified if we fast forward to May and Napoli have not played a Champions League game since January and sit, unthinkably, outside of the Scudetto race in the closing weeks.

However, it seems unlikely that Napoli will lose steam domestically, and should only improve once Romelu Lukaku returns and with the potential recovery of De Bruyne as we head into the Spring of next year.

Continentally, there is more risk. However, judging an Italian team solely on their continental performance seems foolish too. An Italian club has not won the Champions League since 2010 and in the last five years, only the Nerazzurri have given a really good go of it, reaching two finals in three years.

Napoli’s side is still picking up Champions League experience and can only improve as they play more games. For much of this new-look Napoli team, it is their first time playing in continental football for the club. A 10th place finish in the 2023-24 season meant they missed out on European football last season and therefore it is still a learning curve for much of the squad.

To conclude, Conte has not built his career on top of crises. He has created winning squads and whilst it is true that the coach has struggled in European competitions, he is an elite coach and is guiding Napoli to greater and greater heights.