What an impact Antonio Conte has had at Napoli.
The Italian rarely wastes any time in making his mark at a new club, but even by his standards his start at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona has been hugely impressive.
A 2-0 victory over AC Milan in the midweek round of Serie A fixtures kept Napoli at the summit of the standings after 10 games.
Since suffering a shock 3-0 defeat by Hellas Verona on matchday one, Napoli have been close to perfect. They have won eight of their nine encounters since then, the exception being a creditable 0-0 away draw with Juventus.
Before Tuesday night, the critique levelled at Napoli was that the early fixture list had been kind. Aside from that trip to Juventus, Conte’s charges had mostly had winnable assignments.
But by beating Milan 2-0 at San Siro, Napoli showed they are the real deal. First-half goals from Romelu Lukaku and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia put the visitors in a commanding position at the interval, and Napoli held on reasonably comfortably thereafter.
There is a long way to go this term, but Napoli fans could not have asked for a better response to that surprise setback against Verona on the opening weekend.
Conte has already built the team in his image. Interestingly, he is not using the back three with which he has been associated for most of his managerial career.
Conte is instead lining his team up in a 3-4-3 formation. Other hallmarks of a Conte side are present, though: intensity with and without the ball, disciplined defensive organisation, and quick transitions when space is available.
