Allegri calls for greater focus after Napoli are held by Fiorentina

Napoli head coach Massimiliano Allegri says his players must show greater determination after being held to a 1-1 draw by Fiorentina in Serie A on Sunday.

The former Juventus and AC Milan manager was frustrated that Napoli failed to maintain their concentration and intensity at both ends of the pitch, allowing two points to slip away.

Speaking to DAZN Italia after the match, Allegri felt his side produced a technically sound display but did not do enough to turn it into victory.

“I thought it was a good technical performance; there were the two incidents off the crossbar, but at times we need to be more determined in front of goal at both ends,” he said.

“So much depends on the determination with which you attack the ball, both going forward and when defending in your own area.”

Allegri said Napoli’s response to dropping points at home would reveal whether they were making sufficient progress.

“We might be growing, but if we don’t leave the field angry today, then it means we’ve still got a very long way to go,” he added.

The Napoli boss also warned that possession alone could not compensate for a lack of creativity and efficiency in the final third.

“Having lots of possession isn’t enough and we ought to be creating and converting more scoring opportunities,” he said.

Napoli’s failure to see out the match particularly concerned Allegri. He said a cheap loss of possession in the closing stages had left his team exposed when they should have been protecting the result.

“We train to improve everything, but what we absolutely must do is show more focus, because with a minute to go we lost the ball cheaply and were caught unbalanced,” he said.

“We need in those situations to at least bring home the result.”

Despite his disappointment, Allegri said Napoli faced a highly competitive Serie A season and would need to remain calm while addressing their weaknesses.

“I think there are many strong teams this season, so it’s a very difficult league. We must try to recover the players with certain characteristics, stay calm and do more,” he said.

He repeated his call for Napoli to be dissatisfied with the result rather than accept it as an unavoidable setback.

“We need to leave here angry today, because we could’ve done better in various areas, but we’ve got to be angry at this result; otherwise, it’s worrying,” Allegri added.

The coach also cautioned his players against assuming they were automatically superior to their opponents.

“We need to work on our limitations, because if we only assume we’re better than the opponents, we’ll pay the price. That is something we absolutely must improve.”