Napoli manager Antonio Conte has quickly grown fond of summer arrival Scott McTominay. In fact, he holds the Scottish midfielder in such high regard that he has decided to drop his favorite 3-5-2 formation and switch to a 4-3-3.
Conte fielded his new-look set-up for the first time on Saturday as Napoli drew 0-0 against Juventus at the Allianz Stadium. It wasn’t an eventful game by any means. However, McTominay was a rare bright spot in an unwatchable contest in Turin.
After joining Napoli on the deadline day, the former Manchester United ace had to wait until yesterday to make his maiden Serie A start. And he didn’t disappoint, delivering an energetic performance in Conte’s refurbished midfield.
During the post-game interview, the Napoli boss admitted McTominay’s arrival inspired him to alter his tactics.
“The idea came to me because, on the last day of the transfer market, we got McTominay and [Billy] Gilmour, plus brought [Michael] Folorunsho back into the squad,” Conte said, as reported by TMW. “The midfield then became a pretty strong group of players, and we had to make the most of that.”
Conte used last weekend’s trip to Cagliari as a test ground for his new tactical ideas.
“We had already started working on it last week against Cagliari, alternating between the systems, and 3-4-2-1 will be useful, but I also concentrated on this tactic,” the Napoli boss stated. “It fits this team, they can do it, let’s say I was a little concerned about our defending with this approach, but we did very well.“
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