Conte reassured by De Laurentiis but Napoli tension remains

Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis has reiterated that he has faith in ‘real man’ Antonio Conte, but tension between the coach and the team remains, according to reports in Italy.

Napoli are just two points behind Serie A leaders Roma and Inter, but the Partenopei have lost two of the last five league matches and have not scored in the last three outings across all competitions.

Conte had blamed himself and the team after Sunday’s 2-0 loss against Bologna, using harsh words, but was reassured by club owner Aurelio De Laurentiis on Monday.

ADL denied that Conte had handed in his resignation and confirmed his faith in the Italian tactician.

According to Gazzetta, De Laurentiis and Napoli director Giovanni Manna had a long phone call with Conte on Monday. The Italian tactician returned to Turin on Sunday to celebrate his daughter’s birthday and is due to return to Napoli today.

Italian sports papers claim that, despite De Laurentiis’ kind words towards Conte, there’s still tension between the coach and the team, so a confrontation between the two parties will be needed when the Partenopei resume training later this week.

According to Corriere dello Sport, Conte already had a meeting with the dressing room leaders in the aftermath of a 6-2 Champions League loss against PSV two weeks ago, but the players and the coach will have to sit down again in the coming days to clear the air and get on the same page.