Rafa Benitez says Antonio Conte’s exit doesn’t change Juventus’ status as the strongest in Serie A, whilst he reflects on Napoli’s preparations.
Rafa Benitez says Antonio Conte’s exit doesn’t change Juventus’ status as the strongest in Serie A, whilst he reflects on Napoli’s preparations.
The Vesuviani and others in the League have been handed a boost early into pre-season with the news this week of Conte’s exit from the Bianconeri after three successive title-winning campaigns.
However, for the Partenopei’s Coach, talk of his team becoming new favourites for the Scudetto is premature.
“I heard about the news, but I am thinking about my team. The squad of Juventus has always been the strongest and it will be again,” Benitez has told reporters today.
“It does not change much, I do not think that we have become the favourites. Allegri is a strong Coach like Conte.
“We will see what happens but their level will always be high.”
Benitez was talking from Napoli’s pre-season camp in Dimaro, where it was put to him that a second season at the club holds greater hope.
“Every year you always learn something, you understand everything better. Every situation can be handled with more experience. Whilst with the club I did not know certain things but now there is a high level of communication.
“Our focus? We want to play good football, have more balance. To do this, we need to change some things, but for now things are perfect.
“We are going forward in many ways, such as in our structure.
“A gift in the transfer market perhaps? For me, to recover Hamsik, Mesto, Zuniga and Maggio will mean that we are stronger and then there are those who arrived in January, and then other players who will try to improve, and it also depends on those that we can find an agreement with.”
Marek Hamsik in particular struggled in Benitez’s first year with form and fitness.
“We can play 4-3-3, 4-1-4-1 and the position of Marek is not a problem. It is important to get him to play with confidence as in every training session you can see his quality, he can score 10-12 goals.”
Napoli were one club with a high number of representatives at this summer’s World Cup.
“It’s not easy to manage, I have already had experience of this with other clubs two or three times, players will arrive on the 27th, 28th and then the 4th.
“It depends on the mentality of each one – for example Lorenzo Insigne has arrived a few days early and this is positive.
“Those who come in later will unlikely be 100 per cent. This is why the squad will be important, but perhaps Gonzalo Higuain and Federico Fernandez at 80 per cent may be enough, we’ll see.”
Benitez was asked what Napoli will aim for next season on the pitch.
“A little closer to my idea of football, to quality. We must demand of ourselves what we did not achieve before, so we can improve.
“We conceded 39 goals, what can we improve? Balance is the key – could a defensive midfielder in front of the defence help that? Possibly so.
“To aim for the Scudetto we need balance.”