Football Season Guide

Coach Antonio Conte usually is a guarantee of success and the past season was no exception. He was handed the reins of Napoli at a low ebb, after a disastrous campaign which culminated in a missed participation to the European competitions, and he brought them back at the top of Italian football. Despite losing in week 1, Napoli immediately got going and installed themselves almost constantly at the top between October and February. Then, they faced a crisis, winning only 1 out of 7 games, and subsequently re-started their march. Unbeaten in the last 12, they eventually managed to overtake Inter at the very last gasp. Aiming at competing at a European level, Conte found himself very close to quitting the club, attracted by Juventus offers, but eventually decided to stay on, once he was re-assured that investments would be made. And the management kept their words. First of all, in goal, they hired Milinkovic-Savic, coming off an extraordinary season at Torino, who could battle with Meret for a start. Even though they held the best defence of the league, with only 27 goals conceded, Napoli had a troubled season at the back, with injuries hitting starters and back-ups. Therefore, they signed 2 new centre-backs in Beukema, who did wonders at Bologna, and promising Marianucci, from Empoli. They must also build some depth in the full-back department, where they are not competitive enough. The midfield saw the arrival of De Bruyne, who will bring his class and experience, especially in the European competitions, but more could be done, considering that Billing returned to his parent club un-noticed. A not very prolific attack was then strengthened by a new striker, Lucca, who made his name at Udinese, and a winger, Lang, who showed some skills at PSV. The former should provide an alternative to Lukaku, now that Raspadori in particular and Simeone have gone, while the latter could become a protagonist together with Neres, whose last season was plagued by injuries. And more could be done offensively.