Carlo Ancelotti slammed the Press for making up “lies” about his Napoli squad but accepted Lorenzo Insigne fails to perform “when he has a shadow over him.”
Napoli patron Aurelio De Laurentiis stirred some controversy with his remarks over the last couple of days, namely his criticism of Insigne and public willingness to sell the forward if he does not get his act together.
Carlo Ancelotti slammed the Press for making up “lies” about his Napoli squad but accepted Lorenzo Insigne fails to perform “when he has a shadow over him.”
Napoli patron Aurelio De Laurentiis stirred some controversy with his remarks over the last couple of days, namely his criticism of Insigne and public willingness to sell the forward if he does not get his act together.
“I’ve always said that I feel good at Napoli, but today the priority isn’t to talk about my renewal, rather it’s the team’s situation and run of fixtures we have coming up,” Ancelotti said at a Press conference for tomorrow’s Serie A match with Verona.
“I don’t feel like commenting on the President’s words, but they were things he said from the heart, maybe even a bit strong for some of the players.
“He clarified several things. A lot of lies came out and all the draft made me cold. Insigne made a great start to the season.
“His position changed a bit, then there was a moment of confusion and De Laurentiis pointed this out.
“For the team and I, he’s hugely important. When he’s calm and happy, he gives his best. When he has a shadow over him, he can’t bring out all his potential.
“I told him that when I put him in the stands against Genk. It was a strong gesture, but now he’s training calmly and he’ll do well in this run of matches.
“He behaved poorly and didn’t train properly. The same thing happened to Younes. Whoever doesn’t train well doesn’t play. The players know this.”
“They’ve been excellent of late. The club have made them an offer and, like the President said, there’s a desire on our part to keep them.
“Therefore, I think’s up to the players to weigh everything up and make the right decision for themselves.
“Some of the stuff that’s been written has been made up. If you look at our path then you’ll see that some things have been done well.
“Di Lorenzo’s done well, Manolas has integrated very well. There’s been very high levels of play, we’ve beaten the European champions.
“We’ve always shown a clear idea, except against Torino. There are also some things we can do better.
“The draws with Genk and Torino, which can happen, and defeat to Cagliari burned us, but in the Champions League we’re leading our group.
“We make critical and objective evaluations. We’ve ignored all this drama, me, those who work with me and the club.
“De Laurentiis’ calmness proves all this. We’ll never lose the desire to fight for the Scudetto.”