Repubblica writes off Allegri, Il Mattino says De Laurentiis will not act

The 4-1 defeat at the Dragão came straight after the loss in Turin. It is Napoli's second defeat in a row, and the night the doubts about Massimiliano Allegri stopped being whispered. On Thursday 5 November the papers all asked the same question: who answers for this Napoli, and what happens before Sunday 8 November, when leaders Lazio come to the Diego Armando Maradona for a 12:30 CET kick-off (11:30 UK, 06:30 ET).

A failure, or a club that waits

Repubblica is not alone on that. The Corriere dello Sport describes the early return, with a morning flight to Salerno, and writes that another ritiro before the Lazio game has not been ruled out. On this point the two papers agree: the squad could be kept together until Sunday.

Il Mattino goes the other way. De Laurentiis will do nothing before Sunday, it says, and most likely nothing after it either. It does add that "the fate of the coach from Livorno is in any case in the president's hands".

"The fate of the coach from Livorno is in any case in the president's hands"

So the day's papers contradict each other. One calls Allegri's time a failure. The other says the president has no plans to change anything. Both could be true, but they describe two different situations: a cycle that has run its course, or a club that is waiting.

Il Mattino also has two injury updates. Di Lorenzo will be out for about two weeks with an adductor problem. For Lazio, Zaccagni has a tear in his left thigh and will miss Sunday's game.

The dressing room

Sky Sport gathered the reaction from the players. Politano asked for other team-mates to face the media after defeats, "not always us Italians". He then said it was not an attack and that the group is behind Allegri. McTominay called the defeat unacceptable and told everyone to go home and think about it. Sporting director Giovanni Manna admitted that Napoli suffer more injuries than other clubs but said they are no alibi. He said the January window would stay within the club's financial limits.

Our view

The papers are right to hold Allegri to account. But putting the word "failure" on one man leaves out the people who built a squad that took the field in Porto without a single specialist full-back. Manna says injuries are no alibi and, in the same breath, admits they happen more here than elsewhere. That is an open problem, not an answer.

If De Laurentiis has decided to stand still, as Il Mattino reports, he should say so himself and explain why, rather than leave it to briefings in the papers. The most serious words of the day were Politano's, about who fronts up after defeats. His clarification afterwards does not take them back.