At 00:30 on August 19th, in the first round of Serie A, Napoli will face Verona away from home. At the pre-match press conference, Conte acknowledged the significant gap between Napoli and the top contenders in Serie A and also expressed uncertainty about how long it would take to rebuild their competitiveness.
Conte said, “We cannot attribute Napoli’s performance last season to mere luck. If anyone still emphasizes bad luck or other reasons, I suggest you take a good look at the league table and recognize the significant gap between us and the other teams!”
“It is difficult for me to make predictions for this season; we have only been working together for a month and have laid some foundation. All I want to remind everyone is to be prepared for difficulties and to unite, because we must do our best in the face of a challenging new season.”
“I had originally thought the team’s situation would be better than it is now, and that we would see more positive surprises, but that is not the case. We need to objectively assess the team, of course, and we are aware that it is not possible to achieve everything overnight; we must work step by step towards our goals.”
“I won’t say that we are starting from zero, but it’s not far off. I don’t know how long it will take for Napoli to regain its competitiveness; it could be six months, it could be a year, or it could be two years.”
