“I’ll tell you when Conte was my deputy in Siena”

When Conte was my deputy at Siena he already showed the distinctive traits of his character that he had as a player and that he would have as a coach. What Conte applies to everyone – the coach said to Gigi De Canio Radio Marte during Forza Napoli Semper – has demonstrated in recent years with his results, behavior and his way of interpreting work: always with the same consistency, passion and desire to win. By playing with a three-man defence, all the players are important and useful. The numbers in the forms are valid but up to a certain point. They are quite relative. What matters is the aspect of participation, of the mentality that will make the difference between the teams in the way they play. Difference that will be determined by the quality of the players a coach has at his disposal. Conte is a coach suitable for all situations: both those as Napoli experienced them this year and those in which teams must continue to obtain important results. Then we must also say that one man is not enough because many other components are needed for a team to win over time. Conte certainly has clear ideas about the players who can be useful to him. It is also true, however, that coaches have to deal with the market. This is why we need to have alternative management plans. I wouldn’t play much on the conflict with the president, as if Conte were to come to Naples to create distance with De Laurentiis. Because it would already be a homemade war. We must not think that Conte is coming to fix De Laurentiis. Nobody can fix De Laurentiis because he is the president and has the fate of Napoli at heart. Then it seems to me that this president has done more positive things than negative. Certainly the coach he has hired has his own personality which he will assert with the club in the ways and times that are most appropriate. But always in the interests of society.”