With Liam Rosenior’s Chelsea squad leaving west London for the traditional metropolis of Naples this week, they could really feel as if they’re flying away from one storm and into one other.
Britain woke on Monday morning to Met Workplace warnings that Storm Chandra would sweep throughout the nation, bringing sturdy winds, heavy rain and snow throughout a lot of the UK.
Down on the Bay of Naples, nevertheless, the climate is the least of the issues.
Former Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is combating to maintain his squad collectively as a season threatens to show bitter, undermined by a harmful damage record and a run of inconsistent outcomes.
Napoli’s erratic type has already seen them undergo 5 defeats in Serie A this season – yet one more than throughout everything of final yr’s title-winning marketing campaign – whereas within the Champions League they sit twenty fifth within the desk and getting ready to elimination. Their last league-phase sport towards Chelsea is the skinny thread holding these European hopes alive.
‘What I informed the boys is that no person will get off the boat,’ Conte stated on Sunday. ‘The boat is out at sea in a storm, however no person will get off. All of us need to be good at dealing with this second, which has been on for some time.
Napoli’s erratic type has already seen them undergo 5 defeats in Serie Athis season whereas within the Champions League they sit twenty fifth within the desk and getting ready to elimination
Conte warned on Sunday: ‘The boat is out at sea in a storm, however no person will get off. All of us need to be good at dealing with this second, which has been on for some time’
Simply over six months in the past clinched their fourth league title amid dramatic scenes, courtesy of an airborne scissor-kick from former Manchester United academy graduate McTominay
‘The storm just isn’t over, and it will not be anytime quickly, so let’s all prepare, and what we should do just isn’t lose confidence, not lose self-belief, not lose enthusiasm. The very issues which have set us aside thus far, as a result of so far, extraordinary issues have been completed, whereas coping with very severe conditions.’
Conte even went as far as to explain the present scenario as an ’emergency’, warning that it’ll not finish quickly – not even when they handle to squeeze previous the acquainted faces inside Rosenior’s Blues facet and into the knock-out levels of Europe’s elite competitors.
So the place is all of it going improper for the reigning Serie A champions, who simply over six months in the past clinched their fourth league title amid dramatic scenes, courtesy of an airborne scissor-kick from former Manchester United academy graduate Scott McTominay?
Firstly, it’s honest to say that Conte has been grappling with understanding it himself.
In November, Italian reporters stated the enigmatic coach was set for disaster talks with the membership’s hierarchy after a tempestuous press convention wherein he stated he didn’t ‘need to accompany a useless individual’. After the league defeat Conte additionally claimed his facet had been nonetheless basking within the glories of their triumphs from the earlier marketing campaign.
‘Should you lose 5 video games, it signifies that one thing just isn’t going proper,’ he stated on the time. ‘One thing must be completed, as a result of I do not need to accompany a useless individual, I’m the primary ultimately and take accountability.
‘Final yr we did one thing extraordinary and of absolute worth, now we’re persevering with to work however we’ve to ask ourselves how, if there’s the proper enthusiasm and want or we’re basking within the victory of the previous and we predict we’re favourites.
‘We definitely do not have the vitality of final season, the boys know very effectively what I give it some thought. I am sorry that I am not managing to alter this development within the 4 months which have handed, as a result of it signifies that I am not doing job or somebody would not need to hear it.’
Former Manchester Metropolis star Kevin De Bruyne arrived in glowing type, however his momentum was halted by a hamstring tearwhile taking a penalty on the finish of October
Romelu Lukaku has been out with an damage for seven months – and returned on the weekend
Napoli supporters social gathering late into the evening on the streets of the southern Italian metropolis in Might
In the meantime, Conte has additionally needed to deal with a raft of accidents to key gamers – and the following knock-on impact on these remaining.
Former Manchester Metropolis star Kevin De Bruyne arrived in glowing type, delivering top-of-the-line begins to a season of his profession for his new facet, scoring 4 objectives and offering two assists in 11 appearances. It left many questioning whether or not Pep Guardiola’s facet had launched their midfield big a yr too early.
That momentum was halted by an sudden damage to the 34-year-old, who tore his hamstring whereas taking a penalty on the finish of October – and he has not been seen since.
Elsewhere, final season’s high scorer Romelu Lukaku has additionally been absent for everything of the marketing campaign after struggling a muscle damage final June. He returned on Sunday for the 3-0 defeat towards Juventus.
Scotsman Billy Gilmour, whose heroic standing final marketing campaign was surpassed solely by compatriot Scott McTominay, has additionally missed greater than 20 matches with a groin challenge.
Former Fulham midfielder Frank Anguissa, one other pivotal member of the Scudetto-winning squad, has been sidelined since November.
That has left the likes of McTominay – whose first season in blue ended cloaked in each potential glory, together with a Ballon d’Or nomination – to shoulder the burden.
The midfielder’s adjustment to life in Naples final season was seamless, aided by reunions with former United team-mate Lukaku and shut pal and worldwide colleague Gilmour.
Scott McTominay and his girlfriend Cam Studying are loving life in Italy after he joined Napoli
The pair have been exploring the chances that life in southern Italy has to supply
One pizza restaurant run by a fan even locations McTominay above the area’s famed delicacies
Conte unleashed the Scot in an attacking midfield function, and Napoli’s success hinged on his electrical type, which earned him icon standing within the football-mad metropolis. He was dubbed McFratm – roughly translating to McBro in Neapolitan slang – and a portray of his face even appeared in a shrine within the coronary heart of the town.
‘Napoli. McTominay. Pizza. In that order,’ learn an enormous membership flag draped throughout the wall of 1 fan-owned restaurant. One other supporter had his quantity and ‘McFratm’ tattooed on his leg.
Past his performances on the pitch, McTominay has endeared himself to locals by sharing footage alongside his girlfriend, Cam Studying, of the pair having fun with southern Italy – in addition to gushing concerning the area’s meals tradition.
‘Oh my goodness, the tomatoes. I by no means ate them at residence, they’re simply pink water,’ he told the Athletic last year. ‘Right here, they really style like tomatoes. Now I eat them as a snack. I eat all of the greens, the entire fruits. It’s all so contemporary. It is unbelievable.’
The place McTominay had largely escaped criticism for this season’s dip in type – he’s as soon as once more Napoli’s second-highest goalscorer with 5 – that goodwill appeared to expire following the disappointing 3-0 defeat to Juventus on the weekend. Italian stories described him as ‘invisible’ and ‘a shadow of the participant who dominated the autumn’.
Former Manchester United team-mate Rasmus Hojlund has additionally loved one thing of a renaissance on the foot of Mount Vesuvius. The 22-year-old, who joined United in a £72m transfer from Atalanta in 2023, has scored 9 objectives since arriving on a season-long mortgage.
Final month, Hojlund posted an image after successful the Italian Tremendous Cup with the caption: ‘What an excellent choice appears like.’ However the striker’s type alone and the rarity of that single triumph hasn’t been sufficient to hit pause on the chaos.
Hojlund gained the Italian Tremendous Cup final month and stated it was ‘what an excellent choice appears like’
Conte was left livid when Inter had been awarded a second half penalty and booted a ball away
And Conte, too, has continued to stoke the fires, repeatedly airing his frustrations each on and off the pitch.
Most just lately, the Italian was despatched off and handed a two-match touchline ban after an explosive response to a controversial penalty choice towards Inter Milan, angrily kicking a ball away, screaming on the fourth official and later throwing a bottle to the bottom as he was dismissed.
‘We play Chelsea on Wednesday, not the last-placed crew, after which Fiorentina comes two and a half days later,’ Conte stated, with a notice of resignation. ‘We’ll be the identical crew as earlier than; nobody’s recovering. Those that had been speculated to be again have prolonged their time.’
Whether or not Napoli keep afloat or lastly tackle water could rely on whether or not Conte’s storm-tossed ship can maintain it collectively for yet one more evening.
