Conte believes Fonseca had a ‘stronger foundation’ at Milan: “They had a 22-point gap” | OneFootball

Antonio Conte believes that Paulo Fonseca inherited a far better situation at AC Milan than he did at Napoli, but he has quickly overturned things.

Milan suffered a big blow to any Scudetto hopes they might have as they were beaten 2-0 by Napoli at San Siro on Tuesday night. It is a result that puts them 11 points behind the league leaders in the table, albeit with a game in hand that feels very distant.

Both goals came in the first half for Napoli as Romelu Lukaku got the opener early on before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia doubled the advantage just before the break. Milan otherwise dominated the game and yet Alvaro Morata’s offside goal was the closest that they came to getting back into the contest.

Conte spoke in the press conference room at San Siro immediately after the full-time whistle, with his side now seven points clear at the top, and his answers were relayed by MilanNews.

Does this victory change the meaning of the season?

“The ‘Work in progress’ sign is there and will remain. I repeat: Napoli, like Milan, have changed coaches and have started a new journey.

“The difference between us and them is that they had a 22-point gap over us last year. They also have the ‘Work in progress’ sign [above them], even though I believe that Fonseca has found a stronger foundation than us to work on.

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“Every club sets goals at the start of the year and Napoli’s is to return to Europe, entering through the front door, but there are those who want to steal our idea, there are five or six teams. Nothing has changed compared to the past.

“Let’s remain humble. These are three important points. No one, no one could have expected 25 points after what happened last year. We have put some hay in the barn in view of the negative periods.”

What are the margins for improvement?

“Growing all together, in terms of mentality. We must continue to raise the bar. Each individual must improve their performance, must become stronger. We are working on many points of view.

“We can still do better. However, we came to play at San Siro, not on the pitch near my house… I know what emotional impact San Siro has on opposing teams, San Siro is the home of football.

Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images

“Coming here, to play against Milan, to put in a good performance and get the three points must give us confidence and morale, without making us lose our clarity. We know that we have limits and that we must overcome them to be better”.

What are these limits?

“What I like about Napoli is the atmosphere that is being created between us. Everyone feels very involved, very much involved in the project: this is the best thing I could receive.

“There is a positive atmosphere and this gives me so much energy, so much enthusiasm and so much responsibility. In Napoli, passion is everything: the fans must know that we work day and night to make them proud.”