Livorno striker Cristiano Lucarelli says the players always knew coach Serse Cosmi would be resigning.

After the 2-0 home defeat to Napoli, Cosmi announced he was quitting Livorno due to disagreements with President Aldo Spinelli.

"The truth is that on Thursday Cosmi told the 'old guard' of the team that he would resign, no matter what the result today," said Lucarelli.

"You can understand where the problems lie. The fact the Coach already had a statement ready shows you this has been in the air for a while and not an instinctive decision.

"This has been difficult for him, because he had settled in very well with the squad and when he told us the game with Napoli would be his last, we realised there was something else behind it.

"We played well and fought hard today, giving Napoli real problems in the second half, but of course this situation weighs on us."