Napoli 0-2 Lazio – Conte: ‘De Laurentiis can say what he wants, today was a kick to the teeth’

Antonio Conte delivered one of his more revealing post-match addresses after Napoli’s chastening home defeat to Lazio, accepting responsibility for failing to read his squad’s deteriorating condition while firing a pointed but carefully measured response at president Aurelio De Laurentiis over public comments about his future.

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The Napoli head coach was candid about the performance, acknowledging that the hangover from the Parma draw had clearly spread deeper than he realised.

“This was not a good match from us, we put very little quality in midfield,” he said, with quotes via TuttoMercatoWeb.

“Lazio waited for us and hit on the counter. We had 70% possession and did not manage a single shot on target. We had studied the match but we were not good enough. When this team lacks energy, quality drops. Perhaps I was not good enough at sensing the malaise that developed after Parma.”

It was a rare and notable admission of self-criticism from a manager not given to public introspection.

Napoli coach Conte: ‘We took a kick to the teeth today’

Despite the heaviness of the moment, Conte was keen to frame the defeat as a lesson rather than a crisis. “We have taken a kick to the teeth today,” he said.

“Tomorrow we rest, and on Monday we must make the most of this experience. If we don’t, it would be serious. We need to understand why and put things right.”

He was equally clear that Champions League qualification remains very much within reach and that the work is not done.

The most pointed exchange of the evening, however, came when Conte was asked about comments made publicly by De Laurentiis regarding his future.

The coach’s response was composed but unmistakably firm.

“That is the president’s business, he can say whatever he wants, in the most absolute terms,” Conte said. “I do not respond to the president publicly. If I do, I do it in private. Because in the end, the public and the media see nothing else.”

He also pushed back against what he described as the misrepresentation of his own words in recent weeks.

“I know my name is useful for selling newspapers and filling television programmes. Sometimes phrases get taken out of context and twisted. The more we stay quiet until the season ends, the better.”