Excessive Injuries Put Pressure on the Team, But We Showed Determination to Win

Antonio Conte, the Napoli coach, expressed his deep frustration over the large number of injuries the team is suffering from, praising the spirit of his players and their ability to secure a 3-2 victory over Genoa despite playing with ten men. He also explained the condition of Scott McTominay after he sustained an injury.

Conte said: “McTominay has been dealing with this issue since the beginning of the year, where the tendons sometimes become inflamed and it causes him pain, forcing him to play with less energy. He could have continued, but he’s a better player when he’s at 100% rather than taking unnecessary risks.”

He continued: “I believe the victory surpasses what we showed on the field. We gave Genoa two goals easily, but coming back after that wasn’t easy. We had a player sent off, yet we didn’t stop trying to win. This shows that the team never gives up.”

He added, “I was excited to see the team’s reaction without Di Lorenzo, who is an important figure with his quality and charisma, and I saw a strong reaction from everyone. These players overcome everything with a pure heart.”

Regarding injuries and squad depth, he said: “Let’s be clear, this season is really ridiculous. If we’re smart, we should think about building the team and transfer strategy, because compared to other teams, we have a very limited squad. We can’t even rely on the youth academy. We have players like Anguissa, Gilmour, De Bruyne, and Di Lorenzo out for two months, and we don’t know what will happen with McTominay.”

Conte concluded his remarks by saying: “All we can do is gather the remaining pieces and prepare to face Como in the Coppa Italia. I don’t know if McTominay will recover by then, but it would be a significant loss if he doesn’t.”