Rafa Benitez has hit back at criticism of his methods, insisting he is working hard to improve Napoli’s fortunes.
The Partenopei drew with promoted side Empoli this weekend, extending a run of four games without a win in all competitions.
The Neapolitan side have a chance to break that run when they host Slovan Bratislava in the Europa League and Benitez insists he and the team are working hard to turn things around.
Rafa Benitez has hit back at criticism of his methods, insisting he is working hard to improve Napoli’s fortunes.
The Partenopei drew with promoted side Empoli this weekend, extending a run of four games without a win in all competitions.
The Neapolitan side have a chance to break that run when they host Slovan Bratislava in the Europa League and Benitez insists he and the team are working hard to turn things around.
“These days everyone talks, and the way they go on it’s like you aren’t working,” the tactician fumed in his pre-match Press conference.
“Anyone can speak on social media or on the radio, but we are working in every way possible to analyse where we’ve gone wrong and to improve.
“My teams don’t usually struggle, Napoli have been, and we have to work to improve that.
“Against Empoli we lost the ball after making a poor decision, and the players who have to win it back didn’t move as they usually do, so we have to work harder.
“We’ll start by training, improving individual technique, giving confidence to the players, focusing on possession and improving defensively.
“Today we had a training session on a smaller pitch, that’s how you learn to play good football.
“Last year there was talk of trouble, but without ever getting into trouble we came to the end of the season in the best way and won the Coppa.”
Napoli are already assured of qualification for the Last 32 of the Europa League, and will guarantee they progress as group winners if they beat Slovan Bratislava tonight.
However should Napoli finish second in the group, they could be drawn against Liverpool, a club with which Benitez has a long history, winning the Champions League in 2005 as Reds manager.
“I saw the [Liverpool] game yesterday, but I’m not thinking about the draw.
“We’ll just have to see who we’ll get.”
Following tonight’s game, Napoli will travel to Milan on Sunday, before contesting the first trophy of the season when they face Juventus in Doha for the Supercoppa, but Benitez insists he’s fully focused on Thursday’s match.
“I always say the most important game is the next one,” the Spanish Coach explained.
“As you know, I take one game at a time, and now we’re focused on Slovan because it’s important to finish top.
“We know we have important games coming up, we want to be higher in the League, then we’ll think about the Supercoppa.