Claudio Ranieri, former coach of clubs such as Roma, Inter, Juventus and Napoli, spoke to the microphones of Radio Anch'io Sport on Rai Radio 1 to express his opinion on the Scudetto fight and the teams that are protagonists of this start of the championship. Ranieri, with his typical diplomacy, did not name specific names, but wanted to highlight the effectiveness of Antonio Conte as a coach: “When Conte takes over a team, if he doesn’t arrive first he arrives second.”
The technical expert then added a crucial detail for the current season: the absence of European competitions for Conte's Napoli, a factor that could prove to be decisive. “I don't want to burden him with responsibility – Ranieri explained – but the fact of not having the cups will have a big impact when we get to March-April."
According to Ranieri, this year's championship is characterised by greater compactness at the top of the standings, an element that makes the competition even more interesting: “This year there is more balance at the top of the standings. It will be much nicer.” As of today, Conte's Napoli are leading the standings, and Ranieri has underlined how the Campania team has started off on the right foot. “Napoli started well, they seem to me to be the best placed team”, commented.
Despite the excellent start, Ranieri wanted to draw attention to Conte's long-term project, stressing that the goal is not just to win in the immediate future, but to build a solid team for the future. “Conte rightly says that he doesn't have to win the championship, but create a strong team for the next few years”, Ranieri said. However, Napoli's top position could accelerate the achievement of this goal.
Ranieri also wanted to praise the work of Gian Piero Gasperini, coach of Atalanta, who recently made a significant comment on Nicolò Zaniolo, underlining the need for the young talent “get into the Atalanta mentality”. For Ranieri, this statement perfectly represents the type of work that coaches like Conte and Gasperini are doing: not only building competitive teams, but also a winning culture.
Finally, Ranieri spoke about the initial difficulties of teams like Juventus and Milan, both engaged in a reconstruction process. “Juve has changed everything and you can't ask for the moon right away”, he said, recalling how Milan also has to recover precious points. However, for Ranieri, this year's challenges will enrich the championship, making it even more competitive and exciting: “There are many beautiful, difficult and hard-fought matches, and that’s good for football.”
Article published on 21 October 2024 - 10:33
