Old Foes New Horizons
By: Christopher |
5 Comments
Back on the road, which during the end of Reja’s and [all of] Donadoni’s reign, was a worrisome venture. Now there is a certain air of expectation surrounding the game, one of optimism and victory. The words spoken by Mazzarri say it all:
“It’s the ideal week to lose to Catania. They are a team of a good level that plays good football and if there is too much enthusiasm this could well become negative because the enthusiasm has to stay with the fans,” Mazzarri said.
“Instead, my lads and every one else at Napoli have to have the spirit and the brains not to underestimate the job at hand.
“This is the jump in quality, making people understand with facts that we are actually a team. The most important game is always the next. I don’t like to speak about results. I like to speak about performances and work,” Mazzarri explained.
“We should no longer have to concede to wake ourselves up, painful things do give a better taste in the end, but we are working to ensure it doesn’t happen anymore.”
Last season they whooped us nice in an efficient 3-1 victory, when we were in the beginning of what would be some treacherous form. Now the roles have reversed a bit. Mazzarri showed us that achieving a road victory doesn’t have to be a once a year holiday, but rather a reoccurring celebration. And… the Etnei, 7 points in 11 games.. ouch. No surprise that Atzori’s job may be resting on this one despite quite the injury crisis. Along with the injuries (Delvecchio the most notable) there are suspended defenders Matias Silvestre and Ciro Capuano from the spanking they got from Viola last week. That is poor luck because Capuano has looked a ray of shining light for the Sicilians in defense so far. While I look down on Catania from our 6th place perch, it should be noted that our avg. goals per match allowed is 2.2, compared to their 1.4 (away, to home, respectively). Humility boys, humility. With Japanese sensation Morimoto coming back from suspension, lining up alongside Mascara, Catania are a team to take seriously in terms of potential goal threats. Our back four has not looked like the most assured aerial force either.
A Game to Win
Mazzarri will be looking for a clean cut victory here, no last gasp emotional come backs, just some start to finish solid play all the way through. The kind of play that will start to officially give the team an identity. There shouldn’t be any massive changes from the side that whooped Juventus.
It will be interesting to see if Datolo gets his wing spot back after his stellar role last week, as well as if Quags gets to be in the starting 11.
Probable Lineup (3-4-2-1): De Sanctis, Grava, Cannavaro, Contini; Maggio, Gargano, Cigarini, Aronica; Hamsik, Lavezzi; Denis
Lining up against our old nemesis 3-5-2 the midfield battle should be interesting, but winnable, easily- really looking for Gargano and Cigs to dominate here (as I do pretty much the whole team). We can’t get give away possession cheaply in midfield, as all it takes a through ball to Contini to pass the ball to Morimoto in front of net. But again, defense needs to be stable, hopefully we learned from the Milan game. Speaking of stable, or lack thereof, where has Zuniga been? Talk about the antithesis of reinforcement. I’m pretty upset he’s been about as useless as an empty mayonnaise jar, as I had high hopes when he was signed. But did I mention I love Hamsik? Get that contract extended even further.
Unfortunately I have to leave for the weekend : ( to a land of no internet- but espn360 is showing us live again so I’ll catch the replay. Have a great weekend everyone.
Lets make it a 5 game unbeaten record Mazzarri, Forza Napoli
Category: Team News
Historical Context and Mercato Rumours
By: Neil | 7 Comments
Napoli’s 3-2 victory in Torino last Saturday was the club’s first victory away to Juventus in 21 years. This alone is reason for celebration, but if you look the entire week it might be the best week of Napoli calcio since the team qualified for the UEFA Cup in 1991-92. Can anyone remember a time during the last 17 years when Napoli did better than beating Fiorentina and Juventus away and drawing Milan at home? If the team continues to pick up results, there will be inevitable comparisons with Maradona era of the late 80’s and early 90’s.
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Category: Team NewsThe Story So Far…
By: Christopher | 9 Comments
My apologies for the delay. With course scheduling taking place, the past couple of days have been about as frantic as Juventus’ back four on Saturday. So while a lot of the hype has died down from our epic battle at the Olimpico, I’d like to recap a little bit of what happened; But at the same time to stop and take a breather for some perspective of where our team is right now– because 6th place is more than I expected, especially after a recent rough stretch of matches (Roma, Bologna, Fiorentina, Milan, Juve). We are making up for lost opportunity from the dark ages of the Donadoni era…
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Lets start with what went wrong (mainly one thing, to which you can probably guess before reading a second further):
First, Contini:
We need to work something out with Contini, hmm… leave and De La will pay for your haircut? If we are going to take the next step up in quality, and thrust ourselves into European competition, it would help if he didn’t grace the other team with easy goals, thus forcing Hamsik into further brilliance. While I enjoy seeing the latter, Hamsik could spare the additional sweat to keep his hair fresh.
That was just sad to watch. Contini, succumb to Anne Robinson’s wrath.
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Second, Conceding early
A recent footballitalia blog was written about this, raising a couple of questions. Mazzarri’s style is clearly one of passion and inspiration, but what will happen if we are leading and need to maintain consistency this way? Saving Reggina from relegation, earning promotion for Livorno, are all great comeback feats suggests the article, but what about for Napoli, who are expected to migrate towards the high end of the table and be consistent? Is he the right man? These seem to be a legitimate questions seeing as he’s known for that, but I don’t think we should look too far into it yet. As mentioned before, it was a difficult stretch of games that he came into, and with the exception of Bologna, the early goals were mere lapses of concentration (as shown above) that can’t necessarily be fully pinned on him. This being said, the next game against Catania will be the true meter of how much we should look into this issue. Mazzarri will have to settle them down from last weekend, because while their team is terrible, there are some players who can punish you in those brain fart *cough* Contini *cough* moments.
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The Good:
Again, hats off to all the players and Mazzarri, even if we lost or tied that game- while I would have been pissed- I would have been immensely satisfied with the competitiveness that the players showed up with. Wow what a contrast of play between these past four games and when Donadoni was leading. Personally, I recall many times being fed up with our lackluster play in the second half of a ‘Donadoni Napoli,’ and thus not feeling bad leaving the computer to make an extra cup o’ joe to ease the stress. With a ‘Mazzarri Napoli,’ the cup o’ joe best be ready before the game, or it’s waiting until half time.
Mazzarri Praise
I’m wondering if in these past couple of decisive games, anyone who was on the fence when he was hired, feels differently after getting to know him better. These were the results of last quiz.
While I can’t remember which one I voted for, I do remember being hesitant (but still in an ‘anything is better than this [Donadoni]” attitude). Apparently De La knew this was the right move two years ago! Maybe this guy knows more about football than everyone thinks…That’s another story though.
“I had already thought about Mazzarri two years ago. I was sure that he would be ideal for a place like Napoli.”
“But I was in Los Angeles, I couldn’t pursue the deal. And when Edy Reja left, Donadoni arrived. I shouldn’t have given him a two-year contract.”
The Juve game definitely changed my views. Mazzarri really had the team playing, and he really displayed some tactical know- how. As De La again said, the subs were perfect.
Datolo the super sub?
(Don’t strangle the guy!)
Well I don’t think the phrase super sub has ever had as much meaning, coming on to slot a clutch goal (was it his very first touch?), and then an even more clutch assist. There are two things I’d like to look at here:
1) The progression of Datolo as a player under Mazzarri, and
2) The tactics of this substitution within the game
First, every coach has his new breed of favorites, and who they think fits best where, blah blah blah. But even so, I was surprised to see two of Mazzarri’s changes to Donadoni’s standard starting 11: Pazienza for Cigs, and Aronica for Datolo. I think many of us would agree that the latter players have more quality than the former ones. It seems Mazzarri may have pulled one over on us, while he shook up the line up to further instigate these players to the quality he needs. And I think it is in the process of working. Cigarini is improving, scoring against Milan, and regaining his starting position.
Second, the tactics of this were brilliant. What’s that? Camoranesi is not on the field helping to protect the flank with ‘the weakest link’ Grygera? Instead, it’s Tiago, who, after reading the Juventusoffside’s comments, is regarded as a useless and overrated player. So what does Mazzarri do but recognize this and push even further for wing play. And he got it. The flank was often overwhelmed and if Grygera could questionably mark a man tight in a 1 v. 1 situation, he sure as hell couldn’t do it in 2 v. 1 situations.
Again, all of this is great, but now it’s up to Mazzarri to instill the ‘one game at a time’ mentality before we take on Catania.
Are you a Mazzarri convert? or still Hesitant?(survey)
Forza Napoli!
Category: Team NewsThe Comeback Kids
By: Christopher | 95 Comments
That’s what they’re all calling us now. No Just kidding, I don’t know a single Napoli fan that lives near my desolate town, but if there were maybe that’s what they’d be saying? I don’t know about everyone else but I’m still on a high from the Milan game, or just high in general, but that’s a different story. Is it just me or is our season just getting more and more epic with every game? 
First the late Bologna win… the epic Fiorentina victory (I don’t want to toot my own horn here but I remember calling a victory there, and would have been right on goal differential if Quags could take a damn penalty. So for what it’s worth, I’d like to put my footballing dignity out there again and predict another victory- I’ll explain why later), and then we all know how last game went. But this time it’s Juve at the ol’ Olimpico, paying a visit to our pals Ferrara and Cannavaro…ahhh what would you do for some of their defensive talent infused in our back four (Ferrara at 41 > Contini? Hm.)? If Paolo makes it back we can see a little sibling rivalry going on, he’ll surely want to impress. Juventus and Napoli are both coming off some mixed results in terms of results and form. Juventus recently thrashed the hell out of Sampdoria after some shaky performances (the difference is they win with shaky performances, but that’s just what the top teams do). Let’s go over some key match ups.
4-2-3-1 vs. 4-2-3-1
Well we’ve both been through the formation changes, unfortunately for learning new systems during the season ours had to accompany a coaching change too. Ours is in it’s fetal stages, theirs is growing into freakin Achilles. Anyone remember that bullshit I was spewing in one of my first posts about the rebirth of the trequartista (in Serie A)? Well apparently that fad is on the outs now, the trequartista experiment has failed for a at least a couple of teams- Milan, Lazio have found themselves migrating to a 4-2-3-1 (even though it hasn’t done them too many favors in the depths of the table… Pandev and Ledesma anyone?) Juventus started out with the 4-3-1-2, utilizing Diego, who at the beginning of the season looked like he was going to replicate his Werder Bremen success and THEN some. This was looking awesome for my fantasy team (go Diego, just don’t score tomorrow), but it wasn’t to continue. Teams learned if they glue a couple guys to mark the shit out of him, the Juve three pronged attack would be more like a spoon. Hence, we have the switch to the 4-2-3-1, aka a way to have Diego and former treq. backup Giovinco, playing at the same time, along with the very in form Mauro Camoranesi, who when he can play more than one game in a row, is just a dominant, underestimated force to be contended with, AHHH! Ours is still getting it together, and it will be interesting to see how Cigarini and Denis’ performances will impact Mazzarri’s selection. I think you could make a case for both of them being in the line up, Cigarini for Pazienza and Denis for Quags. For them, there is little question as to who’s up top (although Del Piero could reportedly make an appearance), Amauri despite an early goal drought started scoring, said he was going to score more, and is scoring more. That is some cause for concern, but then again so are most strike forces when lined up on paper to our back four. I really feel that Mazzarri is getting the best out of these guys though. The Milan game showed that despite the early trembles, the defense held its own for large portions of the game. I suppose part of this was due to our consistency in possession and attack, something Donadoni could not produce.
Finishing vs. Buffon
Damn, if Dida was frustrating, imagine Buffon. Despite needing knee surgery, he’s in that type of fantastic form that has a tendency to single handedly win Juventus games. As much as I love Quags, we may need that little bit of something magical to beat Buffon, and what do you know, of all people to show some of that finishing magic, it’s Denis! Fuck, if he can score, put him out there.
Perfect Timing?
I’ve seen a good amount of Juve’s league games, some of the Champions League matches they played, and nearly every game Buffon was key in the last 10 minutes. For some reason or another, Juve have a tendency to take their foot of the pedal at this time of the game. It is actually somewhat funny to watch, it starts at the top with the strikers who lose possession, the DM’s make bad passes, and all in all it ends up being a shit show in front of Buffon who comes up with some serious saves to maintain the status quo of the game. Team quality doesn’t necessarily matter either, it happened against Bologna, a very late header in stoppage time, and it very nearly happened against CL group underdogs Maccabi Haifa (who they actually play again next week which could be an additional advantage for us) as they barely held onto their 1-0 lead towards the end of the game. Unfortunately, this graph isn’t the greatest representation of my point, but you can sort of get the gist, most goals conceded are before the breaks.
Our goals conceded under 15 is sad- looking at this through the preview function, the bar is so long you can’t even see the tally (Don’t ask don’t tell). But if we can hold off early pressure, and be patient and attack at the right times I think we can win this one. Again, not a completely logical argument for thinking we can win away against Juventus, but the type of spirit Mazzarri has our team playing with, well it has carried over to me a bit, and I can’t help feeling optimistic against any opponent.
Grosso vs. Maggio
Everyone knows the greatest weakness of Juve is at the fullback position. It’s what exposed their CB’s last season, and although it’s looking better this year with Grosso and Caceres, I think it’s still something that can be exploited. I’m looking for Maggio to have an explosive game. It will be a very interesting battle between he and Grosso, who can sometimes be caught up field in vulnerable situations. If Maggio finds the right balance between going forward and and defending, good things will happen. On their left, Grygera, probably the weakest link in the line up due to Caceres’ broken nose, can be easily exposed. Some reports have us lining up a 3-4-3 which I think could work well in this context of working wing play. It would also obviously allow Denis to get on the field as well, which up until a recently I decided is a good thing.
Draw up the game plan Mazzarri!
Forza Napoli!
Category: Team NewsInterview With The Vampire
By: Neil | 5 Comments
For the record, Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis is not a vampire. But whenever I see his cold, unmoving face, the image of him ripping apart his players’ flesh and drinking their blood flashes across my mind. Sorry for the gruesome thoughts but I just had to do a Halloween themed post this year. DeLa gave an extensive interview after the 2-2 draw with Milan, and some of his comments are certainly worth discussing.
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Category: Team NewsFacere Ex Nihilo
By: Neil | 22 Comments
Napoli 2 AC Milan 2
I’ve never studied Latin but the above title roughly translates as “to make out of nothing” which is exactly what Napoli did against Milan. In the 89th minute Napoli had nothing, and despite some postive play they were going to be deserved losers on the day. All of the sudden, Cigarini converts a broken up corner kick into a wonder goal. Then, deep into injury time, Maggio hits a desperate cross which Denis heads into the far corner of the net. Napoli, like the gods of the ancient world, created something out of nothing.
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Category: Team NewsWelcome, Mr. Lippi
By: Neil | 67 Comments
A very special spectator will be at the San Paolo Wednesday night as Napoli host Milan in a battle of two teams who are in the process of finding their top form. Nazionale boss Marcello Lippi will have an eye on a number of players, but most importantly Milan’s Alessandro Nesta and Napoli’s Christian Maggio. Nesta is still officially retired from Italy, but if he continues to play at his best Lippi will do everything he can to pull the former Lazio captain out of international retirement. Maggio is available for selection and the right sided midfielder is recapturing the form that earned him a big money move to Napoli and an initial callup to the Italy squad. Watch the game live on Fox Soccer Channel @ 3:30 Eastern time.
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Category: Team NewsHolding our mojo on the road
By: Christopher | 47 Comments
(Yeah that’s Viola man high schooler? *midfielder* Montolivo holding(?) his junk).
Another away game, another opportunity to list a dismal sequence of statistics regarding our recent history of away games. For now I’ll just leave it at we haven’t beat the Viola since 01. The progression of Fiorentina’s quality since doesn’t seem to help our chances of breaking the spell either. Fiorentina have shown this year that they are a consistent force to be contended with. After multiple games in which they won despite being the underdog I found myself asking, ‘are they for real?’ As you can guess, this question was answered after sloshing Liverpool in the CL group stages. Yeah Liverpool is terrible right now, but this was before Torres recent injury, although he mine as well have not started that game because Viola standout CB Dainelli made him a ghost. To quote Neil (Since Neil’s internet is down and he wanted to write about Fiorentina) from our ongoing football (and philosophic (we’re both philosophy students) email correspondence, “Quite frankly, it’s the model Napoli should aspire to.” I think this is absolutely correct. Prandelli’s done it just right, from being open to player positions and finding Vargas’ best, to developing Jovetic, and in general finding consistency. I’m going to let my laziness override my desire to not appear like a conceited asshole, and quote myself from the email correspondence. 
“The thing I’m most impressed with about Fiorentina is the management of Jovetic. What a superb young player. Prandelli gave him almost 30 appearances last season which I believe was second only to Pato (who is even a bit older) in terms of youngsters getting starting roles. And he got a lot of criticism as Jovetic was clearly raw in form, and only managed something like two goals. Yet the persistence was amazing and now so is the outcome… All of these rumors of big club offers for him omit an ‘I told you so.’ I just think a lot of clubs are too impatient, and would rather promote the urgency of goalscoring through constant competition and cycling of the strikers rather than cultivating talent and building confidence.” You could say that this sort of cultivation of youngsters is not as available of an option for the top dog clubs, but for our type of clubs I think patience is a virtue when it comes to giving players time to develop… they may not stick around forever (hopefully Hamsik enjoys his Napoli love / ability to speed on the streets enough so he doesn’t leave). Think of that certain young man that left over the summer, Santacroce keeping the bench warm as ever until Donadoni gets desperate and puts him in a sudden intense game where he injures that lame muscle in your knee that keeps you out for extensive periods of time. Anyway, back to the game at hand….
Lineups:
Fiorentina: Frey; Comotto, Gamberini, Dainelli (D), Gobbi; Zanetti, Montolivo; Santana, Jovetic, Vargas; Gilardino
Notes: Still not sure which is better, Jo Jo starting or Mutu being on the bench.
“Who will play? I still haven’t decided,” Prandelli declared.
I guess what is most scary is what is going to happen. Jovetic is going to start from a fresh rest off Fiorentina’s Budapest match, and Mutu, being in that very very deadly form that he migrates too when he is not on the injury list, will likely come on to the field at a later time. The good news? Dainelli may not be fit enough to start, and Kroldrup may have to take his place.
Napoli: (3-4-3): Iezzo, Grava (/Campagnaro), Rinaudo, Contini; Maggio, Pazienza, Gargano, Hamsik; Aronica, Quagliarella, Lavezzi
“The important thing is that people have seen my mentality. Napoli will fight until the 95th minute. And I will guarantee you this myself.”
“I spoke to the lads very clearly – the only way I know how to communicate – and they must start believing Napoli have a soul and an identity wherever they are.”
We like your style Mazzarri.
Notes: This lineup could go a lot of different ways but this does seem most probably, hopefully Campagnaro will make it back. It will be an interesting game for Iezzo first start of the season- with Vargas- Mutu- Gila in front of his net (and hopefully Grava- Rinaudo-Contini in front of them) Still trying to see what Mazzarri sees in Pazienza, but I’ll shut up and be open minded and try to see what he can offer in the new system.
Prediction: I’m going to throw my balls out on the chop block for this one and predict a 3-1 victory for us. I don’t know why, it doesn’t seem probable, seeing as I spent most of the initial part of the post praising Fiorentina it doesn’t make much sense, but I just have that feeling (could have been all the alcohol last night).
Forza Napoli!!
Category: Team NewsLet’s Get This Party Started…
By: Neil | 42 Comments
Napoli 2-1 Bologna
A Napoli side that showed determination for the whole 90 minutes got an injury time winner from Cristian Maggio to give new manager Walter Mazzarri a win on his debut. Playing an unusual 3-3-2-2, the Partenopei controlled most of the game but had to wait until Quagliarella’s goal on 72 minutes to cancel out Adailton’s clinical free kick. With an animated Mazzarri driving the team from the sidelines, Napoli pressed for a winner and were rewarded when Maggio side footed a Lavezzi cross to send the fans home happy.
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Category: Team NewsNapoli e Bologna
By: Christopher | 58 Comments
Ahhh, a breath of fresh coaching, tactics, and motivation. Maybe now I’ll be able to drink my coffee during the game without risking spitting it up in ‘Donafrustration.’ It is a bit odd to think while our home record has been good (2 wins, 1 draw), and we have spent more money than Bologna can ever hope to spend in one summer, that we are just a sloppy point ahead of them (this is where you come in Mazzarri). Maybe now having four Napoli players on my fantasy team will help rack in the points.
The New Coach Effect:
Gotta love that new coach placebo effect, regardless of how good the coach is, there’s always the expected bump of form. Then again, maybe this isn’t historically accurate in our case… Either way, we’re at the San Paolo, and the bump is expected or I think De La will have an aneurysm. Another apparent new coach effect (or coincidence?) is the ‘100% fitness’ of Quagliarella:
“Until now I had physical ailments: I have never been able to take the field one hundred percent.”
This being said maybe I’ve been too critical of him in the past games, but his fitness (and thus form) is mostly the fault of Donadoni who played him with no rest. It will be interesting to see Mazzarri on the field on Sunday. It was clear that Donadoni simply did not have control over his team.
Lineups:
Bitties have their drama shows- Grey’s Anatomy, Hills, but we have our San Paolo home games. And what would one be without some preceding drama? Lavezzi caught the I’mDatoloandI’madumbass syndrome? Whether it be the football federation’s fault or Lavezzi’s, it is up to Mazzarri to decide the punishment. Either way De La has a good point that Lavezzi should have been back early to get to know Mazzarri having not played in Argentina’s 1-0 win against Uruguay.
“First it happened with [Jesus] Datolo, and now it’s happened with Lavezzi. We are tired of having to deal with these Argentines who are not paying attention, and who are less than professional,” blasted De Laurentiis to Il Corriere Dello Sport.
NAPOLI (3-5-2): De Sanctis; Campagnaro (D), Cannavaro (P), Contini; Maggio, Gargano, Cigarini, Hamsik, Aronica; Quagliarella, Denis (P). All. Mazzarri
(D= doubtful, P= Probable)
Notes:
It looks like Mazzarri will opt to stick with the old 3-5-2 in the meantime to smooth the transition from hell to where there’s light. Expect a switch to what will be the new 3-4-3 formation, with Hamsik pushed up to the left, and a more flat midfield.
BOLOGNA (4-4-2): Viviano; Zenoni, Britos, Portanova, Lanna; Vigiani, Mingazzini, Guana, Tedesco; Di Vaio, Zalayeta. All. Papadopulo
Notes:
Relegation Savior Di Vaio seems to be playing through a nagging Achilles problem, and his inconsistent form should continue at the San Paolo. Zayaleta better not score. Apparently he netted twice in a friendly over the weekend, but of course now he will be facing his old teammates and the all-star defensive trio.
(Notice who is marking Di Vaio in his goal)
Forza Napoli!
Category: Team News
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