All the reasons behind Napoli’s crisis and what could happen with Allegri, who is not the only one to blame: from injuries to the transfer market and De Laurentiis, what’s going on
Another defeat in a season full of them, and Napoli face fresh questions over a campaign showing all the hallmarks of a disaster. It is only November and Napoli are nowhere near Serie A's top four and sit 24th in the Champions League, with even qualification for the play-offs at risk.
In Turin, Napoli's defeat to Juventus extended a run of disappointing performances by Allegri's side. They still have plenty of time to turn their season around and make this spell nothing more than a passing slump. If Allegri cannot do so soon, however, the situation could deteriorate into a repeat of what followed the Serie A title won under Spalletti, when Napoli had more managers than moments of joy. Allegri's position is also under threat, and he must reverse the trend to keep his job. The former AC Milan manager is not the only one to blame for a start marked by unwanted records. But managers are usually the first to pay the price in football, even when the reasons for a crisis this deep are many and varied.
Juventus and Napoli met in Turin with both teams in crisis, but the 2-0 result lifted only Spalletti's side out of it. Allegri's men, meanwhile, have sunk deeper into what is now their worst-ever start to a Serie A season under De Laurentiis: a sixth defeat in 13 competitive matches, their fourth in ten league games, 14 points in the table, their worst return since 2009-10, and a gap of nine points to fourth-placed Como and six to Frosinone. Napoli have just half as many points as league leaders Lazio.
In Turin, Napoli suffered their third away defeat of the league season, following losses to Inter and Venezia. Napoli handed Venezia their first three points of this Serie A campaign. They average 1.40 points per game, well short of what they need to secure, at the very least, another top-four finish and therefore a place in the Champions League. Napoli are coming off a second-place finish and, the year before that, a Serie A title. Last year they had eight points fewer, were seven places lower in the table and had conceded five more goals.
Two very tough fixtures await: Porto in the Champions League on Wednesday, then Gattuso's Lazio at the Maradona on Sunday.
How do you explain a season like this? Injuries are the biggest factor. But the absences, however numerous, cannot become an excuse, especially when Conte's team at the time had also been decimated by physical problems last season. Back then, the "blame" fell on the training methods of the coach from Lecce. This year, the coaching staff have changed but the injuries are the same, pointing to a group of players nearing the end of a cycle, prone to physical setbacks and without the generational renewal they needed.
At one point, as many as eleven players were in Napoli's treatment room at the same time. The problem worsens with every match: Di Lorenzo, De Bruyne and Olivera were injured in Turin. Allegri has hardly ever been able to field his first-choice line-up. McTominay, Buongiorno, Badiashile, Favasuli, Spinazzola, Lobotka, Alisson Santos, Neres, Vergara and all the others. Many have been sidelined, some more than once, others just after returning. According to Repubblica, Napoli have already suffered 43 injuries in just over two months of the season, preventing them from finding consistency. Sendings-off, suspensions and flu have also played a part. Even so, this team have looked fragile in every sense, with good performances against Frosinone, Bodo, Roma and Monza offset by collapses against Como, Villarreal, Venezia and Juve.
Injuries played a part, but so did a transfer window that was no transfer window at all. In the summer, only Badiashile (on loan) and Favasuli arrived. Napoli received money from the sale of Gutierrez but did not reinvest it. De Laurentiis's finances also had to cover the permanent signings of Hojlund, Lucca and Alisson (around €90 million), yet the team had not grown stronger. Instead, the gap to the others widened. The club tasked Allegri with reassessing players rejected by the previous coaching regime, such as Lucca, Lang, Beukema and Marianucci. The results have yet to come.
La Gazzetta dello Sport calls it an "overestimation of the squad", saying Napoli's management believed this team could muddle along and still achieve good results. Repubblica, meanwhile, points the finger at sporting director Manna and the misjudged deals (no fewer than "23 in two years", it writes).
Ever the company man, Allegri accepted the task, did not ask for signings and "made do" with this squad and a three-year contract. He gave the players, exhausted by two years under Conte, a gentler approach and a return to the 4-3-3 favoured by the dressing-room bigwigs. After the first two months of respite, though, the problems are coming to a head and for someone as results-driven as Max, the results are missing.
Injuries, most caused by physical knocks, and Napoli's fairly unfortunate and difficult fixture list cannot be ignored, but this team can and must do more. Napoli create chances and score goals. Allegri must sort out the defence: his team cannot keep conceding so many goals, or they risk missing out on next year's Champions League and failing even to get past this season's league phase, the owners' minimum target.
De Laurentiis is taking more flak from Napoli supporters than Allegri, whose job is safe for now unless the situation changes. The crisis also stems from decisions made in the summer, not just Max's work. Those around Napoli blame the president for what they see as an overly conservative appointment: a manager whose results were declining and whose football was struggling, as his last unsuccessful spell at AC Milan showed. Fans' scepticism about Allegri also stemmed from the decision not to appoint Vincenzo Italiano, who had seemed the chosen man. He is far from the man-manager Allegri is considered to be, and fans believe he would have delivered very different results.
Rumours of a possible sale of the club continue to swirl. In recent weeks, De Laurentiis has spoken more about the planned training ground and club-owned stadium than the team's results. Instead of the historic year Napoli had hoped for, the Centenary year risks being remembered for the wrong reasons.
