Former Napoli player claims ‘Conte’s training methods to blame for injuries’
Alessandro Renica has sparked debate by laying the blame for Napoli’s lengthy injury list squarely at the door of Antonio Conte, arguing that the head coach’s demanding training methods have taken a significant physical toll on the squad.
The former Napoli defender, who spent six years at the club between 1985 and 1991 winning two Serie A titles, a Coppa Italia and the UEFA Cup, made his comments on Stile TV, and they are unlikely to go down well in certain quarters.
Napoli have been badly hampered by injuries this season, with Kevin De Bruyne, Zambo Anguissa, Billy Gilmour and Amir Rrahmani among the high-profile absentees at various points.
Renica: ‘Conte’s methods to blame for Napoli injuries’
Renica believes the volume and nature of Conte’s training sessions at Castel Volturno is a root cause.
“I believe all these injuries are linked to Conte’s training methods,” he said, with quotes via CalcioMercato.
“I have never attended his sessions, but you only need to listen to what the players say. De Bruyne, for example, said that in ten years at Manchester City he never ran as much as he did in three months at Napoli. Excessive dry work tends to stress the muscles, and that is when injuries occur. I have my coaching badge and have tried both methodologies, but when I worked with heavy dry training I had a lot of muscular problems.”
Rrahmani’s situation particularly concerned Renica.
“He is on his third muscular injury and has become practically irreplaceable in this defence. Having him available only intermittently really hurts.”
Renica was careful to acknowledge Conte’s broader qualities, describing him as tactically impeccable and a proven winner. But he added a pointed caveat.
“From a physical standpoint, it is a shame he does not seek to improve. Not progressing past the Champions League group stage this season against those opponents was significant, I think it is a genuine limitation.”
On Napoli’s squad quality, Renica was effusive, rating it alongside Inter as the strongest in Serie A.
“But when eight players of that calibre are missing,” he concluded, “it becomes extremely complicated, and this season, between the Champions League exit and the distance from the top of the table, more could have been done.”