Napoli have 14 points from 10 games, half of leaders Lazio's 28

Napoli have 14 points from 10 Serie A games. Lazio lead with 28, exactly double, and Como are fourth on 23. Fourth place is Allegri's objective, and it is already nine points away.

The match turned in five minutes. Alajbegovic scored in the 70th minute. In the 75th Marianucci, already booked in the 38th, was sent off for a second yellow card. Boga made it 2-0 in the 87th.

Down to ten men, Napoli stopped playing. Their 51% possession created nothing. Juventus had 18 shots to 7, four on target to one, and 13 corners to 4.

The sending-off was not bad luck. It was a disciplinary error. Marianucci will miss the Lazio game, which adds to an infirmary that is already full.

Landucci was on the bench because Allegri is suspended. But the head coach answers for the team even when he is not sitting there. In the materials we have, there is not a single word after the match from anyone who should have explained it.

Who answers for what

The debate in the city has returned to the transfer window, and we cannot look away. Allegri has to find solutions with the squad he has, but the club built that squad.

Lucca has not yet scored this season, and a loan is the most likely route in January. Beukema and Lang are among the names supporters put on the table when they ask where the investment went. We have no figures to quote, but the question is legitimate. Who answers for a squad that struggles to cope with seven players out?

There is also a underlying choice that divides opinion: back young players more, as the club has done in the past, or keep looking for ready-made names. Six players from the Primavera (the youth team) have been called up to the first team for the games at Torino and Porto, and Lieto was on the bench in Serie A for the first time.

That is a fact, not a solution. Nobody can say now whether they are enough to change a season that is slipping.

The window is closed and reopens on 2 January 2027, so for two months the answer can only come from the pitch.

On Wednesday 4 November at 21:00 CET (20:00 UK, 15:00 ET) Napoli play Porto at the Estádio do Dragão in the Champions League, a separate competition in which they are 22nd with 3 points.

On Sunday 8 November at 12:30 CET (11:30 UK, 06:30 ET) league leaders Lazio visit the Maradona, with Allegri back on the bench. If Napoli do not show a team there either, the debate over the coaching leadership stops being barroom murmur.