Napoli press review: injuries and dressing-room unease after Florence

Three days on from the 1-1 draw in Florence, Wednesday's papers dwell on the treatment room and a reported blow-up from Allegri rather than the table. A January transfer name also surfaces.

by Gennaro SanninoWednesday 23 September, 08:40 CET· 2 hours ago

I NUMERI

Arena Napoli International graphic

Three days after the draw in Florence, today's sports pages focus more on what happened off the pitch than on the result: injuries, a reported flash of anger from Allegri, and talk of a tactical rethink dominate over the league table.

Corriere dello Sport leads on a fresh injury setback for Anguissa. "New injury setback for Anguissa — will he be fit for Frosinone? No certainty for now," the paper's headline reads, casting doubt on the midfielder's availability when the league resumes on 10 October. Sky Sport widens the picture, running through recovery timelines not just for Anguissa but also for McTominay, Meret and Alisson.

La Repubblica offers two separate stories from the aftermath in Florence. The first concerns the dressing room.

Allegri molto deluso per il pari di Firenze, sfuriata contro la squadra

"Allegri very disappointed by the Florence draw, dressing-room blast at the squad," the paper's headline says, describing frustration from the head coach that has not yet been fully explained. The second concerns tactics: according to Repubblica, Allegri will try a different formation during the international break and no longer wants to keep accommodating De Laurentiis's preference for a 4-3-3 — friction that, if confirmed, would touch directly on the relationship between coach and president.

DAZN's pitch-side reporter adds a colourful detail from the Florence game. "Allegri irritated, an anecdote about Neres," the broadcaster's headline runs, though it does not say what the episode actually involved.

Looking ahead to January, Tuttosport revives Napoli's interest in Giorgi Kvernadze, currently at Frosinone. "Napoli on Kvernadze! The club watched him in person, he shares an agent with Kvaratskhelia's former one," the Turin paper writes. The Georgian, as it happens, will be one of Napoli's opponents on 10 October.

Our take

The common thread today is a wish to explain, through psychology, a start to the season that the pitch has already explained well enough: ninth place, seven points from five games, a midfield losing players one by one. If the friction over the formation with De Laurentiis is borne out by events, it would be the heaviest story of the day — but for now it remains a headline, with nobody saying when or how it would show up on the pitch. And what is missing from every piece published today is the simplest link of all: how much the midfield absences actually weighed on the display in Florence, as against the mood of whoever lost their temper in the dressing room.