Allegri admits he got the Badiashile call wrong

Speaking to Dazn after the 3-2 defeat at Inter, the head coach revisited the substitution that opened up Napoli's defence — but by his own admission, the numbers don't look good: five goals conceded in two matches.

by Gennaro SanninoSaturday 5 September, 20:59 CET· 1 hour ago

Stadio San Paolo Torre Informazione — Foto: Gaetano Capaldo · CC BY 4.0

Speaking to Dazn straight after the 3-2 defeat at San Siro, Massimiliano Allegri returned to the substitution that came just before Napoli's defensive collapse: the introduction of Badiashile.

Football doesn't have a logic to it — we had to defend inside the box and I conceded a goal inside the box. Maybe it would have been better if I'd done things differently. But we have to accept it and move on calmly.

Allegri called for calm, but the figure he cited himself carries weight: "The fact is we've conceded 5 goals in two matches ... if we concede three in half an hour, I'll say we need to do better." He praised Vergara, playing his first game as a central midfielder ("he did very well"), but criticised Alisson Santos, who trapped the ball with the sole four times in the first half and lost it every time: "He still needs to find his fitness — he's coming back from a long injury."

Napoli sit eighth with 4 points after three matchdays, and their defence remains the open problem, just as scepticism grows over Allegri's choices and public comments. Arsenal visit the Maradona on Wednesday 9 September at 21:00 CET (20:00 UK, 15:00 ET) — the first chance to show something was learned from San Siro.