Cassano praises Conte’s work at Napoli, criticises Lukaku’s performance

Antonio Cassano, the outspoken pundit from Viva el Futbol, has shared his thoughts on Napoli’s recent form, particularly focusing on Romelu Lukaku’s struggles and Antonio Conte’s impressive management. His comments come in the wake of Napoli’s disappointing home defeat to Lazio, where Lukaku once again failed to make a significant impact.

Cassano didn’t mince words when discussing Lukaku’s contributions to the team. “So far, Conte’s work has been stratospheric, but he’s playing with one man down, which is Lukaku,” Cassano stated. “It’s a big problem, I don’t know if he’ll ever have what he had at Inter.” Despite Lukaku’s five goals and four assists in Serie A and Coppa Italia combined, Cassano clearly believes the Belgian striker is underperforming.

The former Italy international also touched on Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s form, noting, “I see him frightened.” However, Cassano remains optimistic about Napoli’s title chances, saying, “Napoli will still be in the Scudetto race, they’ll be a problem for Inter and Atalanta. They need to stay in touch with the top teams until March.”

Turning his attention to Lazio’s performance against Napoli, Cassano had high praise for several players. “Guendouzi had a stratospheric match, Noslin came on and provided an assist. Nuno Tavares is really impressing me. I didn’t remember him being such a strong player,” he remarked.

Cassano also took the opportunity to commend Verona’s coach, Marco Baroni. “The award for best coach of last year, after Gasperini, should have gone to him,” Cassano insisted. “They dismantled his team, he had to take players from a trattoria, one from a bakery, one from a supermarket, yet he managed to save Verona. Baroni, at 60 years old, deserves a big team, considering his growth path.”