After Napoli secured a 3-1 away win over Fiorentina in the 3rd round of Serie A—moving to the top of the standings with three consecutive victories—Antonio Conte attended the post-match press conference.
To what extent did confidence contribute to a performance like today’s?
“Football is always evolving. We must have the willingness to challenge ourselves, strive to adapt to these changes, and improve ourselves tactically and technically. Today we played an excellent game, and our opponent is a team that has reached the Europa Conference League final twice and the semi-finals once in a row. We completed an important match away from home in a difficult environment. If I had to find a flaw, it would be that we faced difficulties in the final stages and almost let the opponent get back into the game—this is something we need to improve on. I treat our players like brothers or a father, and they know where we need to make progress. The debuts of our new signings are very important because we really need contributions from everyone,” Conte said.
How is Alex Meret doing?
“He felt some fatigue in his flexor muscle yesterday, but it didn’t seem serious. A check-up this morning revealed a minor issue, so we didn’t want to take any risks. Vanja (Milinković-Savić) had an excellent debut, and I’m very satisfied with his performance.”
What was the reasoning behind your decision to sign Højbjerg?
“I didn’t invent anything out of thin air—I just based it on what I saw in training. This kid has integrated into the team quickly. He has played in Serie A before and comes from a top club, so he brings rich experience with him. He is still young, and my job is to keep helping him grow—just like I will continue to work with (Lorenzo) Luka and the others. Except for Kevin De Bruyne, the other players who joined our team this summer are not yet fully mature stars. So I emphasize again that we need to be patient with them. Whether they perform well or make mistakes, we should not overpraise or be too harsh on them.”
