News can be hard to come by during the international break, and that’s why the situation surrounding Napoli’s changing rooms made headlines this week.
The Serie A club have spent the first two games of the season playing away from home as their changing rooms underwent refurbishment.
They had been hoping those upgrades would be finished by this week, with Napoli set to take on Sampdoria and then Liverpool in the Champions League.
That hasn’t happened, though, with pictures emerging and showing the dressing room in a state that is far from completion.
The images sparked a furious response from Napoli manager Carlo Ancelotti, who accused the workmen of ‘incompetence’ and suggested there was ‘a lack of a bond’ with the team, saying he was ‘dismayed’ at the situation.
Queste le condizioni degli spogliatoi del Napoli dello stadio San Paolo, a 70 ore da #NapoliSampdoria, che hanno scatenato la reazione di @MrAncelotti contro Regione, Comune e Commissari. pic.twitter.com/YAROtscwIh
— Official SSC Napoli (@sscnapoli) September 12, 2019
It seems one man who wasn’t buying into the situation was Everton scout Carlo Jacomuzzi, who claims that Ancelotti has conceived the whole scenario as preparation for the upcoming clash with Liverpool.
“Ancelotti was very good, he put the stadium in the middle, he created a controversy, a tension that does not exist because it is nonsense,” he told Kiss Kiss Naples, relayed by TuttoNapoli.
“But he cleverly managed to create this tension that will surely carry onto the field and in the stands.
“When you are approaching a match like the Liverpool one, it’s essential to create a stressful situation that filters down to the team and helps them reach their maximum. In that regard, Ancelotti has been a skilled strategist.”
