The Selection Puzzle
NAPLES, Italy — Antonio Conte walked away from Napoli on Sunday, ending a two-year project that delivered the club's first Serie A title in decades. The 56-year-old coach confirmed his departure after Napoli's final match of the season, a 1-0 win over Udinese.
Conte held a press conference alongside club president Aurelio De Laurentiis and explained his decision with unusual self-reflection. "A month ago I called the president… I told him that I sensed that our project was coming to an end," he said. "I failed in one thing: I didn't bring unity to the environment and so it's difficult to compete with others."
The matchup already has enough history; the job is to keep the reading list shorter than the tension.
The Fitness Questions
The admission carried weight precisely because Conte has never been known for doubt. He brought Juventus multiple Serie A titles, won with Inter Milan, managed Chelsea and Tottenham in the Premier League, and guided Italy to the quarterfinals of the 2016 European Championship before losing to Germany on penalties.
Napoli finished second in Serie A this season, hampered by injury problems throughout the campaign. When Conte arrived in 2024, the club was coming off one of the worst defending championship seasons in league history, finishing 10th. He rebuilt them fast enough to win the title in his first year.
The Warm-Up Before It Counts
The Italian national team remains in turmoil after failing to qualify for the World Cup for the third consecutive time. FIGC president Gabriele Gravina and coach Gennaro Gattuso both resigned last month. Conte, who managed Italy from 2014 to 2016, was asked about a potential return to the Azzurri bench. "It's all just talk," he said. "I don't know anything about my future. I might well take time out and rest."
There was clarity in what Conte chose not to say about the Italy job—that silence told its own story.