Antonio Conte has urged his Napoli side to be more clinical in front of goal as he aims to avoid “heart attacks” late on.
Napoli beat struggling Venezia 1-0 on Sunday, with substitute Giacomo Raspadori grabbing the decisive goal late on.
Raspadori’s winner, which sent Napoli to 41 points, level with Serie A leaders Atalanta, came after Romelu Lukaku saved a penalty in the first half.
And Conte demanded more from his team when it came to putting away their chances, with Napoli having 25 shots, those chances equaling 2.0 expected goals.
“I am satisfied, because the team is improving, but if we can score a few more goals we will all be more relaxed and avoid a few heart attacks at the end,” Conte told DAZN, as reported by Football Italia.
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Conte now has 500 Serie A points as a coach and explains that his competitive edge keeps him hungry for more success.
“Even when I play cards with my daughter, I want to win,” Conte said.
“I will never sign for minimum goals. Personally, I always aim for the highest, finding myself at 41 points was too difficult to predict in my opinion.
“The squad is improving and working, game after game. We have to avoid injuries, the players and the fans are getting a lot of satisfaction.
Conte also reserved praise for Raspadori, who scored his first goal of the season, having struggled to establish himself in Napoli’s starting XI on a regular basis.
“We are [using] Scraper [as an attacking midfielder] As a choice,” Conte said.
“I’m working on turning him into an attacking midfielder, to add quality during the game, which like today can definitely be a strategy that works.
“I’m personally happy for Giacomo, he deserves it with the energy and importance he gives to every training session, he’s a person involved in this project.”
