Conte has Napoli back on Serie A summit with sweat equity

Napoli must continue to work hard to progress, coach Antonio Conte said after a 2-0 home win over Monza on Sunday put them top of Serie A for the first time since they won the title two seasons ago.

Napoli performed far below expectations last term when they finished 10th and missed out on European competition.

However, they seem to be slowly getting their spirits back under Conte and lead the table with 13 points after six games.

“There is an advantage and a disadvantage [of not playing in Europe] — the advantage is that you can train the team all week, the disadvantage is that the squad is not as competitive as those that do play in Europe,” Conte told DAZN.

“Having said that, we continue to work, we do it to make people’s dreams come true but the reality is that we are too far away to make flights of fancy.

“We need to sweat every game, like we did today, and grow.”

Napoli endured a turbulent 2023-24 campaign, going through three managers after coach Luciano Spalletti left and then took the Italy job.

Conte has been handed the responsibility of reviving Napoli and taking the club back to the top after that dismal season.

“Not even three months have passed, the president [Aurelio De Laurentiis] is the first to have spoken of a total reconstruction. [Victor] Osimhen and [Piotr] Zielinski left while I hear people talking about certain things,” Conte added.

“I know that there are high expectations for me because I have done important things. Let’s let the fans dream, but I have to keep my feet on the ground.

“I hear people talking who know nothing about Scudettos. We have to speed up to get Napoli where they deserve to be, which is not in 10th place.”