Gigi Del Neri names Napoli as Scudetto favourites, but isn’t ruling out his former club Juventus.
The Coach was dismissed after one season on the bench in Turin, after his side finished seventh, but doesn’t feel the current vintage are in danger of falling so low.
“[Coach Massimiliano] Allegri did very well to handle the delicate situation in the first few months,” Del Neri told Calciomercato.
Gigi Del Neri names Napoli as Scudetto favourites, but isn’t ruling out his former club Juventus.
The Coach was dismissed after one season on the bench in Turin, after his side finished seventh, but doesn’t feel the current vintage are in danger of falling so low.
“[Coach Massimiliano] Allegri did very well to handle the delicate situation in the first few months,” Del Neri told Calciomercato.
“Now Juve have found the right attitude and I think other teams are starting to worry about them. The further away they can keep them, the better, but I don’t think they’ll be able to keep them away for a long time.
“That said, the favourites for the Scudetto are Napoli in my opinion, because they’re playing better than anyone and are mature enough to handle games without forcing it, knowing they’ll score sooner or later.”
Juventus won the League unbeaten the season after Del Neri’s tenure, but the former Porto Coach defends his record.
“Even in that season, the mindset required at Juve was winning, getting good results is what’s special about the DNA of Juventus.
“Juve have simply become winners again, the anomaly was because of that period where results were below expectations.
“It was a difficult season, as happens when you make big changes. There are objective difficulties, as we see this season.
“In my case there were different situations, we had to recreate a winning environment after years of disappointment and open up a new cycle.
“We definitely weren’t ready to win, the goal was the Champions League and without the various injuries and errors in the second half of the season we’d have succeeded.
“We showed good signs in the first half of the season, we came third.
“I think it was an important year in any case, for me but also for the players who, in the next season, found themselves ready to handle the pressure of having to win with Juve.
“I’m thinking, for example of [Leonardo] Bonucci.”