Allegri's start as Napoli head coach got off to a difficult beginning, with his side losing 3-1 to Arezzo in their opening pre-season friendly, despite fielding a strong line-up that included Alex Meret, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Amir Rrahmani, Frank Anguissa, Rasmus Hojlund and Alisson Santos from the first minute.
Arezzo looked the sharper side throughout, taking the lead as early as the 11th minute when Cerri headed home a cross from Sala, beating a Meret who was not at his best. The goalkeeper was replaced by Vanja Milinkovic-Savic at the half-hour mark, but the pattern of the game continued much the same, with Gilli doubling Arezzo's lead in the 56th minute after the Serbian could only parry a shot from a corner.
Matteo Politano pulled a goal back from the penalty spot on 60 minutes, but Arezzo restored their two-goal cushion in the 89th minute through Mavulli, who capitalised on a mistake from Obaretin to beat substitute goalkeeper Contini. Napoli's changes, which saw Leonardo Spinazzola, Stanislav Lobotka, Politano, Vergara and Lorenzo Lucca introduced in the second half, failed to turn the game around.
Politano, who scored Napoli's only goal, gave a measured assessment of the defeat afterwards, speaking to Sky Sport.
"It's fine as it is. It's a shame because we wanted to start well, even though we knew we weren't in great shape. But that's understandable, we've only been working for a few days."
Asked about Napoli having also lost to Arezzo in a friendly last summer, Politano acknowledged the recurring theme.
"They're our bogey team... Like I said, there's time - we still need to work, we've got plenty of days left in the training camp."
On Napoli's tactical setup, Politano confirmed the team have been working on a 4-3-3 shape, though he was careful not to commit to it as the definitive system.
"Yes, though it'll depend on what the boss decides. That's for him to think about - over the years we've shown we can play any formation."
Asked whether the squad had been doing more work with the ball than gruelling physical sessions, Politano said the training load was still significant, even if the emphasis had shifted slightly from previous seasons under Antonio Conte.
"Well, we're still doing that anyway. Maybe over shorter distances than under Conte, but everyone has their own way of working. We'll see how we are in a month's time."
Despite the result, Politano struck an optimistic note on the mood within the group heading into the new season: "I'm feeling really positive. The group is tight-knit and strong, we've shown that - now some of the lads are back from their various loans, I think we can build something important."