De Laurentiis meets Allegri and every paper reads it

De Laurentiis meets Allegri and every paper reads it differently

After defeats at Juventus and Porto, and on the eve of the Lazio game, the Saturday papers are all about a meeting at the training ground. They talk about backing, calm and the cost of a sacking. The match itself barely gets a look-in.

by Gennaro SanninoSaturday 7 November, 08:40 CET· 1 hour ago

allegri — Foto: calciomercato.it

Napoli have lost two in a row: 2-0 to Juventus in Turin in the league, then 4-1 at Porto in the Champions League. On Sunday 8 November at 12:30 CET (11:30 UK, 06:30 ET), league leaders Lazio come to the Maradona with 28 points, 14 more than eighth-placed Napoli.

The papers on Saturday 7 November ask one question: how safe is Massimiliano Allegri? They all start from the same fact, a meeting at Castel Volturno (the training ground) between Aurelio De Laurentiis, the coach and sporting director Giovanni Manna. Then each tells it its own way.

Three papers, three stories

Corriere dello Sport says the president is sticking with Allegri but expects a response on the pitch against Lazio. La Gazzetta dello Sport describes about an hour of talks with Allegri and Manna, followed by De Laurentiis greeting the players. According to the Gazzetta, his message to the squad came down to one word: "Calm".

Repubblica goes further and says what the others do not. It reports that sacking the coach is a real possibility, and that what is holding the president back is the cost of Allegri's contract. So one meeting gives three stories: backing in the Corriere, calm in the Gazzetta, and in Repubblica the price of getting rid of the coach.

Repubblica is also the only paper looking for someone to blame in the dressing room. It holds De Bruyne partly responsible for the tension since Porto, from the row with Lucca to Politano's comments, and calls him "a thorn in the side". Sky Sport picks up Fabio Cannavaro's interview with Sky Calcio Unplugged, which points the same way: "De Bruyne's gestures drive me mad." Cannavaro also criticises a style of communication that airs the squad's problems in public.

Conflicting team news

On the line-up the papers contradict each other. Repubblica says Olivera is fit and can start. Corriere dello Sport is more cautious and calls his return only a possibility. Sky Sport says Allegri has nobody back, Marianucci is suspended and Vergara and Lang are competing for one place.

On Di Lorenzo, Repubblica and Corriere dello Sport expect him back after the international break. Sky Sport talks of a few weeks out with a tear to the left adductor longus, and notes that the club has not given a timescale.

Corriere dello Sport is already looking ahead to January. It reports that De Laurentiis has approved at least three signings, depending on sales, and that Manna is working on three arrivals and three departures after Allegri asked for a stronger squad. TuttoMercatoWeb adds two names: Lucca could go out on loan again, and Monza's Varela is top of the list for the attack. The window reopens on 2 January.

Our view

The Gazzetta asks for calm, Repubblica works out what a sacking would cost and the Corriere is already opening the January window. There is plenty about De Laurentiis and very little about what happened on the pitch in Porto.

Napoli collapsed in the second half there, conceding three goals between the 71st and 90th minutes. That is first of all down to the coach's decisions, more than the president's mood or one player's gestures. Blaming De Bruyne, as Repubblica does, is easier than holding Allegri and the people who built the squad to account. And none of the three January signings will win a point against Lazio on Sunday 8 November.