Massimiliano Allegri Faces Napoli Doubts After Five Defeats in Nine Games

• Napoli manager Massimiliano Allegri has lost five of his first nine games, and a defeat at winless Venezia has left some people wondering whether it could be the start of the end for him.
• Napoli have used 23 players in Serie A so far, as Allegri backs the squad over which Antonio Conte fell out with the owner.
• Kevin De Bruyne praised Allegri as “a little bit more relaxed” than Conte, but the pair were seen gesturing at each other in opposite directions against Villarreal.

A Company Man Is Backing the Squad His Predecessor Quit Over

Massimiliano Allegri was appointed to replace Antonio Conte at Napoli in the summer, and he has presided over five defeats in nine games. The latest, at Venezia, who had no points from their first six Serie A games, has revived questions about the manager and the squad he is working with, according to the Guardian.

Losses to Inter and Como might be excused in isolation. So might the failure to pick up any points at home to Arsenal or away to Villarreal in the Champions League group stage, which has put qualification for the knockouts at risk. Conte also fell short on that front. The mood changes, the Guardian says, when those results are followed by a defeat to the only side in the division without a point.

The Conte Question

Conte quit Napoli last summer, walking away from a well-paid third year on his contract, after his assessment of the playing squad diverged from that of the owner, Aurelio De Laurentiis. Napoli spent more than €150m across the 2025 and 2026 summer and winter transfer windows, signing Lorenzo Lucca, Sam Beukema and Noa Lang among others. A further €60m went on making the loan signings of Rasmus Højlund and Alisson Santos permanent this summer. For De Laurentiis, that was enough.

His choice of successor followed the same thinking. Allegri has embraced his reputation in Italy as an “aziendalista”, a company man. At his introductory press conference he said “that word, to me, is a compliment”, and he stressed his belief in the strength of the existing squad. He has backed those words with actions, using 23 players already this Serie A season.

The Guardian asks the obvious question: what if Conte was right all along? Lucca started against Venezia and is yet to score. Lang, who was sent on loan to Galatasaray in January after clashing with Conte, is back in the fold and scored in a recent win over Frosinone. He was an unused substitute against Venezia and was seen being chastised on the sideline by teammate Frank Anguissa, reportedly for cutting short a warm-up after Allegri sent Alisson Santos on before him.

The De Bruyne Puzzle

Allegri was widely thought to have improved on Conte in one area, the handling of Kevin De Bruyne. The Belgian did not see eye to eye with Conte. In an interview with Il Corriere dello Sport this month, De Bruyne described Allegri as “a little bit more relaxed, a bit more informal, and from what I’ve seen he takes more care of the personal connection with the players”.

Against Villarreal, though, De Bruyne appeared to resist Allegri’s instruction to drop into midfield and make space for Scott McTominay to get forward, with both men gesturing frustratedly in opposite directions. Allegri put the incident down to a language barrier. There is little sign yet that De Bruyne is warming to the manager’s publicly stated belief that he might extend his career by reinventing himself as a deep-lying creator.

Allegri left De Bruyne, Højlund and Alisson Santos on the bench at Venezia, and the Guardian says his substitutions changed the game. De Bruyne saw a penalty saved. The Guardian asks whether Napoli were presumptuous to think they could win without their standout creative talent, their first-choice centre-forward and one of their most able dribblers.

No Breaking Point Yet

The Guardian says the situations do not yet appear to be at breaking point. De Laurentiis will know he is unlikely to find another manager of such experience with such willingness to toe the line. Allegri has bitten his lip about the one player he asked for this summer, Gabriel Jesus, who was available at a relatively modest price and is averaging better than a goal for every 60 minutes at Barcelona.

The pressure on Allegri was eased a little when Lazio beat Juventus 3-0 on Sunday and turned the media’s attention to Luciano Spalletti. Parallels with Allegri are still being drawn, though. They are two of four current Serie A managers who have won the competition, and Maurizio Sarri has lost four of his first seven games with Atalanta.

The Venezia fan’s banner promised love even in victory. As the Guardian puts it, such affection is rarely unconditional for football managers, wherever they work.

WRITTEN BY

Jarrod

Jarrod Partridge is the Founder of Futbol Chronicle and an accredited journalist with over 30 years of experience following international football. A member of the AIPS International Sports Press Association, Jarrod has covered matches at stadiums around the world, bringing first-hand insight to every match report, player profile, and tactical analysis he writes.

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