Spalletti-De Laurentiis, silence and frost: what happened – Corriere.it

There is no negotiation, there is silence. And not an innocent silence. He says more than all the words that neither Spalletti nor De Laurentiis say about the future of the Napoli coach. In theory, Luciano is on the bench for another year; in practice he is ready to finish the season, to leave for South Korea for a mini tour and above all to never do an injustice to the Neapolitans. And then? A voice not contemplated at the moment. Last week’s dinner was due says De Laurentiis. In friendship and thanksgiving, adds the president during the presentation of Dimaro’s summer retreat. But if Spalletti was ready the next day to answer those who asked him about the chat at the table, the club will speak, he means instead that the future issue had been addressed. The enigma solved: there is no understanding and the most probable hypothesis is that of a very intense reflection. Each to their own. Let’s also call it a pause for reflectiona test of a controversial relationship on a human level.

The rift between the president and the coach is not sudden and a bit of a script that repeats itself at Napoli, despite the fact that there are only nine coaches who have taken turns on the bench in 19 years. From Reja to Mazzarri to Sarri and finally to Gattuso and Ancelotti: all long but more or less turbulent cohabitations. This time the problem is of a relational nature, an aspect on which football is never dwelt enough but which evidently could become a point of no return for Spalletti. From today to June 30th there is another little piece of road to go together and the proof of respect for the person becomes essential to understand if it is possible to go further forward.

The lack of a congratulatory phone call from De Laurentiis on the day of the Scudetto victory in Udine is not a detail the coach overlooks. The president has his own arguments: I wanted to leave the team group the intimacy of celebrating a great achievement by themselves. Hundreds of messages will have arrived on the cell phones of each of the protagonists of the enterprise. Evenings like that don’t involve too much privacy. For now, there is a friendly relationship between the two — they met yesterday in the Castel Volturno offices — the door to a future together remains ajar. There is no negotiation: De Laurentiis seeks conviction, Spalletti wants respect and sharing. Parallel streets and silence. As happens in marriages, one waits for the other to change and vice versa. Break. Off to the noise of (external) rumors about the possible replacement and the new destinations. Certainly De Laurentiis is not found uncovered.