Napoli have half Lazio's points and answers must start with De Laurentiis

Ten games in, Napoli are eighth and 9 points short of the top-four target Massimiliano Allegri set himself. The president chooses, the sporting director builds the squad and the coach picks the team, so those three owe the answers.

by Gennaro SanninoTuesday 3 November, 20:05 CET· 5 hours ago

Quattordici punti, metà della Lazio e un'Europa da 3 punti: le responsabilità partono da Aurelio De Laurentiis — Grafica Arena Napoli

Napoli have 14 points from ten games. Lazio, top of the table, have twice that. Frosinone have six more.

Four wins, two draws and four defeats leave Napoli eighth. Fourth place was the target Massimiliano Allegri set, and it is 9 points away: Como have 23. The side that finished second on 76 points last season now sits behind Inter, Roma, Milan and Juventus, the rivals any season is measured against.

Shameful is a hard word. But the numbers leave little room to pick another.

Europe tells the same story. Napoli are 22nd in the Champions League with 3 points from three games. They lost 0-1 at home to Arsenal and 3-1 at Villarreal. Their only win, 4-3 against Bodø/Glimt, still cost them three goals conceded.

This is the competition where the fanbase feels judged more than anywhere else. Last season Napoli finished 30th, and the 6-2 defeat to PSV remains the worst European loss in the club's history. There was no room for another start like this.

Who decides and who answers

The chain of command at Napoli is short. There is the president, Aurelio De Laurentiis, the sporting director, Giovanni Manna, and the coach.

Whoever builds the squad answers for the squad. On Wednesday 4 November at the Dragão, ten players are unavailable and there is not a single recognised full-back: Di Lorenzo, Olivera, Spinazzola and Favasuli are all out.

Whoever coaches answers for the choices. In Turin, Napoli had 51% of the ball and managed one shot on target, against 18 shots from Juventus. The game fell apart between Alajbegovic's goal in the 70th minute and Boga's in the 87th.

Then there is the question plenty of fans are asking. Allegri is under contract until 30 June 2029, on a three-year deal worth €6m a season net with no clauses, and the president phoned him after Turin. Our view is that a coach on a smaller salary, with a less weighty name and less protection behind him, would be in far more danger right now.

That is not an accusation against Allegri. It is an observation about how the club is handling this moment: it is protecting the choices it made instead of questioning them.

Meanwhile the president stays in Geneva. He missed Turin, he will miss Porto, and he sent the squad three words.

«Credo in voi»

"I believe in you." After the 2-0 at the Allianz Stadium, not one person who should have explained the game has said a word. A city that has won two league titles in three seasons is not asking for acts of faith. It wants answers.

Porto host Napoli at the Estádio do Dragão in the Champions League on Wednesday 4 November at 21:00 CET (20:00 UK, 15:00 ET), and Napoli will be down to the bare bones. On Sunday 8 November at 12:30 CET, Lazio arrive at the Maradona as leaders, with Allegri back on the bench.

We will not have to wait long to find out whether anyone has taken what happened in Turin seriously.