“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.

“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

Instead I would like to focus on the current team. My initial feeling about last week was “too good to be true” but when I look at how the team has been shaped over the last few seasons it’s right about where the team should be. The two wins against Fiorentina and Juve were clean and well earned victories, and even if the comeback against Milan was a little miraculous it was still a legitimate result.

For those who remember last year, Napoli got off to a great start and had home wins against Fiorentina and Juventus, and an away win against Lazio. I don’t know if these results were on three consecutive matchdays, but they all took place in a time span of about a month. So there is a precendent for the amazing results of last week.

And since returning to Serie A, Napoli has created a habit of playing some big games against the top teams. Two seasons ago there was the famous 3-1 in against Milan that knocked them out of the Champions League, and in the last two seasons Napoli has beaten Scudetto winners Inter twice at home. Then there’s last year’s Coppa Italia game where Juve need penalities at the Stadio Olimpico to eliminate Napoli. To summarize, playing big teams hasn’t been one of Napoli’s shortcomings over the last few seasons.

What does Napoli need to make the next step into a perennial European team? The answer is playing against the mid and lower table teams. In Reja’s one complete season in Serie A the club managed some good results against these sides and snuck into Europe via the Intertoto. But it was clear that Reja had reached the limits of his managing abilities and couldn’t sustain this kind of success. The big question is, can Napoli find a winning formula for teams that will stick ten men behind the ball? Can Mazzarri keep rotating players so that later on in the seasons intagibles like fatigue and motivation won’t be a problem? These questions will be answered over the next six months, but if you’re bold enough to make a prediction the comments section is all yours.

I really think that Napoli has the talent to be a perennial European team except in a few areas such as defence and maybe attacking depth. After watching players like Datolo and Hamsik show their immense talents over the last week, some fans and experts are raising the issue of former d.s. Pierpaolo Marino who brought all these talented players to Napoli. Wasn’t it Marino who built up this great side?

My answer to that is yes and no. Yes, Marino did a great job of identifying talent. I don’t think anyone is disputing that. But at the same time, he had an awful lot of resources to work with (DeLa’s money) and even though he landed a number of talented players he did a poor job of managing the overall balance and development of the team. Also, for every smart purchase he had a bad one. For ever Lavezzi there is a Denis, and for every Datolo there is a Navarro. Sure, Denis has scored some big goals but Marino got ripped off paying about $8 million for him. Navarro, who cost around $4 million, showed brief glimpses of talent but never really fit into the team. In the end Napoli had to go out and get De Sanctis.

Marino therefore desereves a lot of credit for bringing these talented players to Napoli. But it should be noted that he had big resources, and with the sheer number of players he bought some were bound to work out. Plus, there’s more to a director of sport than spotting talent before others, and I think the other parts of the job are what got Marino fired.

Napoli’s next move – bringing Liverpool’s Andrea Dossena to Napoli in the January market – is the kind of thing Marino should have been doing. Dossena is an established player in his prime years who fills an urgent need on Napoli’s team (left defence.) He wants to come to Napoli, and all that really needs to be done is haggle over the price. This will be a good test for Bigon to see his negotiating skills. Hopefully he won’t get a reputation as someone who will pay more than market value as Marino frequently did.

Napoli has also been linked with a couple of young Ghanaians who could end up in Milan. Domenic Adiyiah recently won the Golden Boot at the U-20 World Cup, leading Ghana to victory. 16 year old Edmund Hottor is currently in the primavera squad of Triestina and had 50% of his rights purchased by AC Milan. While Adiyiah couldn’t reach an agreement with AC Milan, he will be at a top club one day. It’s great to see Napoli being mentioned as a destination for the world’s best young footballers. Even if the world’s best young players end up at clubs like Milan, Juve, or Man United, Napoli is closing the gap as a great club for young talent to shine.

Closer to home there are rumours of a swap with Lazio for Pandev and Ledesma. Napoli could really use a striker like Pandev. He’s not the most athletic player is the world, but he’s great technically in front of goal. Ledesma would likely provide depth at the centre midfield position. He could challenge Gargano or replace him if the Uruguayan leaves. Napoli shouldn’t give up a lot for these players though. Defintely NO to Santacroce and Cigarini. Bogliacino, Rinaudo, and Zuniga are more expendable. Even if this deal doesn’t go through, Bogliacino and Hoffer could be transfer listed in the January market. Both players are not getting much playing time and probably have better futures elsewhere.

Apologies for not including any pictures or video this post. I believe Chris will be back to cover the Catania game as I have another commitment on Saturday. You can look forward to some creative pictures and graphics then. Until that time, keep on savouring last week’s impressive victories. There could be more of them to follow.

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!

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!

Here is the complete record of the interview.

“If the players lost three kilos playing, then I lost five. But for me this draw is worth a victory because it said so many things.”

Sure, the draw feels like a victory, but in the end it’s still a single point. Napoli did show lots of heart, character, courage, whatever you want to call it. But on this night it was only worth one point.

“All the players were very good, even Luca Cigarini and German Denis, the goalscorers. They sacrificed themselves and now await the next game.

I wonder if DeLa is expecting Cigarini and Denis to start next game? Even if they don’t start, their goals must have earned them a start sometime in the future.

“I would say that Napoli have been very good. We showed character, but also demonstrated that we know how to play football. And we did it against a great team that castigated us twice in five minutes on two uncertainties.

Completely true! I don’t know if Milan is a great team this season but Napoli is showing lots of things that were missing under Donadoni.

“We reacted and created six or seven chances, and found an immense Dida. If I have to find fault with the team then I end up looking even more pedantic than I am made out to be even though I am not. But it’s true that we create a lot and score a smaller percentage,” De Laurentiis concluded.

I love how DeLa understands that people will accuse him of being pedantic if he finds fault with the team. Hey, I feel the same way as a blogger. But he’s right – Napoli’s slump last season started when the team was able to create all kinds of chances without scoring from them. I would rather the team go for higher quality chances and put them away rather than trying to accumulate lots of low quality chances.

DeLa can say some strange things but I think his assessment of the game was spot on. I’m looking forward to the Juve game. I think it will be a much better yardstick than the Milan game to see where Napoli is right now. The team is still creating an identity under Mazzarri, and there’s plenty of matches left and lots of work to be done.

1) Inzaghi doesn’t miss an open net. That second half blunder has to go down as one of the misses of the season, and it cost Milan two points.

2) Leonardo does his job and takes Abate out of the game. I have to give credit to Leo because after the game he admitted his mistake. Some managers won’t do this. After Abate’s first yellow in the 13th minute, I predicted he would eventually see red. It was clear that Abate couldn’t handle Lavezzi, and it’s amazing the veteran Oddo wasn’t brought in.

The reason I say Napoli didn’t deserve a draw is because those two key events were outside of Napoli’s control. In other words, it was just Milan screwing up and this game should be seen as Milan throwing away two points rather than Napoli dramatically earning a point.

Auriemma highlights:

I love how every time an opponent scores against Napoli Signor Auriemma reacts like someone has stabbed him in the heart. At the very best, he seems confused as to how to properly deal with the situation.

Yes, Napoli did play well for large chunks of the game and a lot of things were done quite well on Napoli’s end. Notice how Mazzarri took out Campagnaro after he picked up his yellow? That’s good management. Mazzarri identified a player who has a history of recklessness and took action to prevent a future problem.

Napoli also pushed forward most of the game and if not for a few great saves by Dida, could have started a comeback earlier than the 90th minute. But Dida did make those saves, and good goalkeeping is often a component in Serie A.

Now I want to talk about the formation Napoli used. Our back four would have been better with:

Campagnaro – Cannavaro – Contini – Aronica

but for this game it was:

Grava – Campagnaro – Rinaudo – Aronica

In any case, I don’t like how Napoli played the 4-2-3-1 formation today. On both Milan goals, Napoli could not get control of the ball in midfield, and Milan was able to play two great passes to give Inzaghi and Pato clear breakaways for their goals. If you look at how the formation lines up on paper, there’s a couple of holes in midfield:

De Sanctis

Grava Campagnaro Rinaudo Aronica

Gargano Pazienza

Maggio Hamsik Lavezzi

Quagliarella

The two person line of Gargano and Pazienza is a bit thin, and space needs to be covered on both wings, either by the outside defenders moving up, or the wingers dropping back. On both goals Milan had players in midfield who were able to play a quick pass to break through Napoli’s flat back four. If Napoli wants to win using the 4-2-3-1, the team has to do a better job of winning the midfield battle. With Maggio and Lavezzi usually thinking attack, it was more like a 4-2-4. That’s a problem formation in today’s game.

And that is why Napoli found themselves down 2-0 after just five minutes. AC Milan proved you can’t win a game in the first five minutes, but Napoli also proved it’s possible to lose a game in the first five minutes.

In Mazzarri’s three games Napoli has scored five goals, all of them coming in the last 20 minutes and four of them coming in the 88th minute or later. That’s a worrying trend. It’s made for exciting finishes and seven out of nine points, but what happens when Napoli’s late game heroics come to an end?

And there’s also the Quagliarella situation. To put it bluntly, Quagligol has been playing very average the last few games. On top of his average performances there’s also been a missed penalty. Against Fiorentina, he was subbed for Denis in the 86th minute, and against Milan the same substitution was made in the 71st minute. I’m asking a couple of questions: is there any chance Quagliarella could be dropped from the starting lineup? And is there any chance he’ll lose his place in the Italy World Cup team? I’m saying yes to both questions. Even if he continues to start at Napoli despite indifferent games, there’s a lot more competition for strikers in Lippi’s squad. I hope he finds his form quickly before other Italian strikers start making their claim for a World Cup place.

So, even though the overall situation is good – Napoli is 2-1-0 in the last three games, with two of them coming against Champions League calibre opponents – there are still some problems that have to be worked out. I would like to see Mazzarri experiment with different lineups over the next 2 months to see which ones work the best. Should Cigarini start over Pazienza? Well, if you want an attacking player, yes, but if you want a defensive player Pazienza might be a better option. Also, who are Napoli’s best defenders? This season, Napoli’s best defender has been….. nobody. Not Santacroce, not Cannavaro, not Aronica, not Rinaudo, not Grava, not Contini. There is a case to be made for Campagnaro, but as many fans have observed he tends to drift in and out of the lineup due to injury/suspension and at his best he is still a bit reckless.

Given the way Napoli started the season I should probably be delighted with a point against Milan but I’m not. Even though Napoli have played a lot of tough games so far – it continues next weekend with Juventus away – many of the teams in the bottom half of the table are finding their form as well. Parma and Bari are currently overachieving, and teams like Atalanta and Livorno are doing better under new managers. Just like last season, positions 4-14 will be hotly contested. There have been a lot of upsets so far and with the parity in Serie A any team can win on any given day. I look at Napoli squeaking out last minute results, and my emotions tell me to view the glass as half full, but my brain tells me to view the glass as half empty.

I guess the best way to conclude this post is to hope that Napoli starts making something out of something rather than something out of nothing.

Forza Napoli!

For about five years, from 2003-2007, Milan were doing everything right. The team had star players in their prime, a great supporting cast, a manager who knew how to pull the right strings, and so many intangibles that lots of winning teams have: innovation, loyalty, commitment, etc. But competing in Europe with the ultra rich EPL is tough, and Milan fell off the wagon in Serie A, finishing 5th in 2007-08. Ironically it was Napoli who knocked Milan out of a Champions League spot late in the season at the San Paolo.

What did Milan do wrong? They simply didn’t look to the future. The core of the team became a bit older, and some veteran players got complacent because of no internal competition. Instead of identifying weaknesses and coming up with solutions, the club signed players like Ronaldinho and Beckham for marketing reasons. I would like to note that these two players are still quite good, but they didn’t really solve any of the team’s problems. Every time I go to the Milan offside there is an endless debate about how to use Ronnie. That’s not a good situation.

Last season Milan finished tied for 2nd with Juve, and seemed to have recovered from their problems. Then two key individuals, Kaka and Ancelotti, decided to move on. If the club had a bit of foresight as they were celebrating their 2007 Champions League win, they would have realized losing key personnel was bound to happen. If you look at Milan’s roster they haven’t really been able to replace either of those two people. Even though Milan is a good bet to qualify for the Champions League again, I wouldn’t describe them as a team with star players in their prime, a strong supporting cast, and a manger who knows how to pull the right strings. They still have a lot of work to do before they can earn that status again.

To be honest, I have no idea if they’re rebuilding or retooling, but they still have an awful lot of quality. The same question of age still hangs over the team though: is Milan too old to compete at the highest level in Serie A and Europe for a whole season? And if they do show some problems due to a heavy schedule, can Leonardo make the right adjustments? I don’t know the answers to these questions, and I have to conclude that Milan is a team that can play frighteningly good football (anyone see the 3-2 win over Real Madrid) but is still vulnerable on some nights.

Napoli have won twice under Mazzarri with two late goals to make a giant leap up the table. Incredibly, if they defeat Milan and other teams slip up on Wednesday, they’ll be in 4th(!) by next weekend’s showdown with Juventus. This simply proves that it’s still early in the season, and there’s plenty of time for the challengers to rise to the top and the pretenders to slip down a little.

It remains to be seen whether Mazzarri will rest anyone for Juventus. Campagnaro isn’t ready, and if Gianluca Grava is good enough to play a full 90 minutes away to Fiorentina, he could be used again. Cannavaro returns from suspension, but does Rinaudo keep his place at centre back? Leonardo believes the game could turn into a tactical chess match, and this game might be decided by managerial moves.

If Milan plays the forward line of Ronaldinho-Borriello-Pato, Mazzarri could use four at the back in a 4-2-3-1 lineup. Here is how it might look:

De Sanctis
Grava – Cannavaro – Contini – Aronica
Gargano – Pazienza
Maggio – Lavezzi – Hamsik
Quagliarella

This is of course just one option for Mazzarri. Since he’s only been manager for two games there’s no history of him working with the Napoli lineup.

Finally, in transfer news Liverpool’s little used left back Andrea Dossena could be moving to Napoli in the January window. Dossena has the same agent as De Sanctis, and with the Napoli keeper cementing his spot in the Nazionale – he might even surpass Marchetti to become Buffon’s back up – a move to Napoli might help Dossena’s chances of making the plane to South Africa.

Sorry for the quickness of this preview but I finally got my internet connection back after about a week without and I was eager to get a post up. I missed the Fiorentina game but I watched the Auriemma highlights with great joy. It looked like a very entertaining game with lots of chances and some good goalkeeping. Here are the highlights:

I’d like to finish with a question: who takes Napoli’s penalities? Last time Hamsik had to push Quags away, and then missed. Now Quags goes up to the spot unchallenged, and misses. As Signor Auriemma asks, why not Hamsik, il rigorista? Did something change once Mazzarri took over?

Enjoy the game Wednesday as Napoli look to make it three wins in a row. When was the last time that happened? Forza Napoli!

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!!

I always love it when Raffaelle Auriemma gets hysterical, but this game he was better than usual as Mazzarri’s first game provided a special atmosphere.

Mazzarri started a lineup Napoli fans have never seen before:

De Sanctis
Campagnaro – Cannavaro – Contini
Maggio – Gargano – Aronica
Hamsik – Datolo
Quagliarella – Lavezzi

Although there’s still five midfielders, the single five man line is broken up into two lines of three and two. This gives Napoli’s game a more balanced dimension and allows for more creative combination play. Early on I noticed the ball movement in the midfield was not as predictable as past games, and it seems like Mazzarri’s tactical adjustment paid dividends as Napoli showed more bite in attack.

It was Bologna who opened the scoring though as Adailton hit a perfect free kick from just outside the box. This free kick went over the wall at just the right height, dipped at just the right time, and hit the side netting as a stunned De Sanctis could only stand and watch. If I ever do a clinic on free kicks I’m going to show this one as an example of flawless execution.

On a side note, you’ve got to wonder why a player with Adailton’s skill isn’t more prolific? I think he’s a throwback player who would have been considered great in the 80’s/early 90’s when the game wasn’t as fast. The speed and physical nature of the game today is so much sharper. The sheer pace takes skilled players like Adailton and makes them look ordinary. But today Adailton gave us a glimpse of why it’s called the beautiful game.

At halftime Mazzarri took out Datolo and put in Pazienza. I was a little suprised at this move because an attacking player went out for a more defensive player. I think Datolo was subbed because he ballooned a shot well over the bar when he should have at least got it on net. I understand that part of the move, but I just couldn’t see Pazienza adding anything to Napoli’s attack.

Napoli continued to control the game and the sustained pressure paid off when Zalayeta of all people couldn’t clear a corner and the ball was eventually poked in by Quagliarella. It was the kind of timely goal that Napoli just wasn’t scoring earlier in the season. With a little over 15 minutes left a hungry and motivated Napoli side pressed forward in search of all three points but it was Bologna who should have wrapped up the points when Di Vaio was on a mini-breakaway but shot right at De Sanctis’ head. Saves like that will earn De Sanctis a plane ticket to South Africa next summer.

Given that Napoli played well and and showed more creativity than in recent games I wouldn’t have been upset with just a point but in the 91st minute Lavezzi went round a tired Bologna defender and sent a low cross across the six yard box that Maggio drove home with authority. A game winning injury time goal is hardly magical, but these kinds of stories have been in short supply for Napoli and it was great to see the game end on a high. The players and fans celebrated after the whistle, and if Napoli continues improving today’s victory will take on a symbolic role as the one that got everything started.

In his post match interview Mazzarri gave a warning that even though the team won, he was still dissatisfied with some parts of the game.

“They were a little tense and wasted some really clear scoring opportunities.”

I really like this quote. Napoli did very well to attack and penetrate the Bologna backline the entire game only to see some good scoring chances count for nothing. In the end the team was able to grind out a victory, but wasting some good attacks could have cost Napoli points.

I also like how Mazzarri started Lavezzi and let him play until Napoli took the lead. You have to give your best players the chance to make a difference, and sending Lavezzi a message by keeping him on the bench would have taken some quality out of the lineup. Lavezzi wasn’t man of the match, but he got a partial breakaway that could have won the game and set up Maggio’s game winner. If he can play like that every week I don’t think Napoli fans will want to see him sold.

Who gets man of the match then?? It wasn’t an easy decision but Superbyke controlled the right side of the field for Napoli and held his nerve in front of goal to give Napoli the three points. I really like Maggio’s position as a deep lying midfielder and if Mazzarri can get the best out of him he might join De Sanctis in South Africa.

Here’s my version of le pagelle:

De Sanctis: 6.5 came up big when called upon
Campagnaro: 6.5 how has he never played for Argentina?
Cannavaro: 6.0 Canna is not on form
Contini: 5.5 the obvious weak link in the Napoli lineup
Maggio: 7.5 Superbyke motored all game
Gargano: 6.5 needs to be more precise
Aronica: 6.0 nowhere near as good as Maggio
Hamsik: 5.5 invisible for much of the second half
Datolo: 6.0 needs to find his comfort zone
Quagliarella: 6.5 ended his goal drought
Lavezzi: 7.0 more inspired than past weeks

Subs: Pazienza 6.0, Pia 6.0, Rinaudo N/A

Allenatore: Mazzarri 6.5

It wasn’t a perfect game, but it was an important victory. If Napoli can start to pick up results when they’re not at their best, they’ll climb slowly but surely up the standings.

Can’t wait for next week and a visit to Florence. Cesare Prandelli’s team has shown its going to be tough in both Serie A and the Champions League. Let’s hope Mazzarri can turn around Napoli’s road problems. Forza Napoli!!

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!