Antonio Conte has literally taken over the post-match discussion of Inter-Napoli with an extremely heated rant that, as we’ll see, is also somewhat childish and paradoxical. The manager from Salento criticized the Var protocol that, in his opinion, prevents the technological tool from intervening in case of referee’s mistakes.
There’s more though. Conte resorted to some rather heavy expressions and insinuated strange suspicions. He speaks of a Var used for convenience, of ulterior motives and conspiracy theories arising from such behaviors, explicitly evoking a past of Italian football that he evidently knows better than any other coach in this Serie A. However, Conte’s monologue is fairly simple to deconstruct and decipher, for at least three reasons, which are as many questions.
Dumfries-Anguissa: is it not a penalty in this Serie A?
The first one: Conte calls for the intervention of the Var when the referee makes a mistake, so he implies that Anguissa’s tackle on Dumfries was not a foul. Later on, he changes his version and says, If Mariani had been called to the Var and had confirmed the decision, I would not have said anything. One would ask: is it a foul or not? It’s a bit unclear, as is Conte’s wish: Change the protocol, but who made it?.
It’s not very clear what the goal is. The protocol is valid worldwide and was written by the IFAB the global body, because every tool needs to be regulated, otherwise we would face complete anarchy. That being said, let’s focus on the specific case: does anyone really think that Mariani’s whistle on the Dumfries-Anguissa incident was a mistake? The midfielder tries to shield the ball but fails, hitting the Dutchman on the shin and preventing him from reaching the ball. And one might say, the intensity is not enough. Do we really want to talk about insufficient intensity in a championship where even the slightest contact in the penalty area is now scrutinized and penalized?
Perhaps the perception has been distorted by the Dazn commentary that enraged Inter’s fans. A bit like Olivera’s handball that prevents Lautaro Martinez from shooting at goal. Inzaghi, too, might ask himself: Why didn’t the Var intervene?. He didn’t though, nor did he lose himself in hypocritical statements such as I speak on behalf of the whole category.
Why that silence at Empoli?
Antonio Conte has clumsily tried to position himself as a champion of clean football, in which coaches want to be at peace thanks to the Var. Simone Inzaghi contradicted him with his usual elegance. Indeed, how could it be otherwise, faced with a coach who only a few weeks ago won at Empoli thanks to an embarrassing performance and a non-existent penalty on Matteo Politano.
On that occasion, however, the coach of Napoli did not show representative spirit for a category that can’t take it anymore when the referee wasn’t called to the Var, the penalty was that’s right scored and his team won the match. No, in Tuscany Conte took the victory and glossed over the refereeing, providing us with the usual narrative of Napoli coming from a tenth place and so even if they ended up ninth, it would be a success. Strange? Yes, but not excessively.
Why did you criticize a Var decision two years ago?
In a press conference, Conte spoke of the Var as a wonderful innovation, a very useful tool that allows coaches to be at peace. He basically calls for the use of the Var on every single referee’s decision, transforming it into a field slow-motion playback, so the matches could last four or five hours. He says – we reiterate, as in the opening – that he would have been satisfied with
