Vieri: Napoli have the second-best squad in Serie A

Christian Vieri, the former Italy striker, dropped a verdict on Adnkronos that clashes with the current table: "Napoli, in my opinion, are the second-strongest team in this league, looking at the squad, behind Inter." Coming from someone who wore the shirts of Inter, Milan and Juventus, the judgement carries more weight than a passing compliment.

"I'm not looking now at the league games they've lost, because at Milan they could have won it at the end," he said, referring to the 3-2 defeat at Inter's San Siro.

"In Italy people always look at the result, almost never the game."

In the pecking order Vieri draws up, Roma come next behind Inter and Napoli — a side he says "will fight to the end" — while Juventus and Milan trail further back. "Last year didn't go well for them, they have to rebuild, but I always say Juventus, Milan and Inter have to be in the Champions League every year," added the former Inter, Milan and Juventus forward.

The numbers tell a different story

For now, at least. Roma and Inter lead the table on 12 points, with Como and Lazio on 10. Napoli sit further back after a 0-2 defeat at Genoa, a 1-2 home loss to Como, the 3-2 defeat in Milan, and a 1-0 win over Bologna on Sunday 13 September, settled by a Lobotka goal in the 66th minute. Inside the dressing room and in the papers, the team is still searching for itself: after the Bologna win, Gazzetta dello Sport wrote that Napoli "have no identity", and the feeling around the club is that the squad is not yet delivering what it promises on paper.

Two readings, one gap

That is the paradox. Vieri looks at the names — De Bruyne, McTominay once he is back, Lobotka, Anguissa once he recovers from a muscle strain, and a forward line of Neres, Højlund, Lucca and Politano — and sees the second-best squad in the league. Anyone watching Napoli every week instead sees a team struggling to turn that potential into recognisable football, with possession that is often sterile and a defensive record still openly debated by supporters. The two readings are not mutually exclusive — the gap between them is the real story of Allegri's season.

The next test comes on Sunday 20 September at 12:30 CET (11:30 UK, 06:30 ET), away to Fiorentina at the Franchi in Florence — another chance to bring the squad Vieri admires into line with the points still missing from the table.