Allegri punches changing room walls after Florence draw

In front of Dazn's cameras, the Napoli coach only said "we leave angry". Behind the changing room door at the Franchi, he shouted, hit the walls and accused his players of accepting the draw without reacting.

by Gennaro SanninoTuesday 22 September, 23:28 CET· 10 hours ago

Massimiliano Allegri — Foto: Original: Quirinale / Derivative work: Danyele · Attribution

Dazn's cameras only picked up the tame version. In the Franchi changing room, moments after the final whistle of the 1-1 draw between Fiorentina and Napoli, Allegri punched the walls and raised his voice at a group that had let slip the lead scored by Gilmour in the 23rd minute, barely reacting after Jiménez's equaliser in the 51st.

We leave angry

This was not ordinary disappointment: it was a direct criticism of the team's lack of hunger and will to win, with a message delivered to the players in no uncertain terms - this cannot go on, and change has to come quickly. Allegri felt betrayed by a side that conceded the equaliser without reacting, an attitude he judged unacceptable for a squad that had set itself very different targets at the start of the season than ninth place on 7 points from five games.

There is more behind the scenes: Allegri has reportedly started to doubt some of the transfer market decisions taken in the summer together with the club - decisions he himself agreed during planning and which, with the results now in front of him, no longer look so convincing. It is the same window, closed on 1 September with a negative balance, that the team was supposed to face with a changing room already primed to bite.

Same script as last year, different lead

The closest precedent is twelve months old, and awkward to ignore: Antonio Conte, in the season that ultimately finished second, had also let his discontent leak out, hinting that without an immediate change of course he would leave. De Laurentiis smoothed things over. Now Allegri is sending the same signal, in a different style but with the same urgency: patience has a limit, and the squad knows it.

A head coach showing some muscle in the changing room after a draw away to a direct rival is not alarming on its own. It becomes more significant alongside what has already been circulating from Castel Volturno (the training ground) during this international break: two flashpoints in training, an internal sanction on Lang judged too lenient, and a president who has not been seen. A group that was supposed to be the season's added value - one that, according to the club, needed no reinforcements because it was already hungry - is the same group its own coach now accuses of settling for a passive draw.

The international break remains the only window to put things right before matters turn serious again. Frosinone visit the Maradona on 10 October at 20:45 CET (19:45 UK, 14:45 ET): the first chance to see whether the outburst in Florence left a mark, or stayed behind those walls.