Napoli-Cagliari or trust me we need the points more than you

By: Joe | January 25th, 2008

In one corner: Six consecutive defeats. Fewest home points in Serie A. Outscored 14-2 in
their last six matches and winless in four months. Owner of the fewest goals scored and most goals allowed in Serie A. Cagliari are a long, long way from being good. Or respectable. The Rossoblu would have to nearly double their point total simply to avoid being in the relegation zone.

In the other corner: 3rd most road goals allowed. One road victory on the campaign. Your best defender and emotional leader is out for three weeks and your starting keeper may be out due to a bum knee.

Moveable object meet the irresistible cream puff.

With only one victory in their last eight overall matches, Napoli travel to the Stadio Saint’Elia to restore what had been a promising start to their season. The last victory (1-nil against
Parma) was seemingly eons ago. While Napoli outplayed both Siena and Torino (drew both matches), they were hammered by Ka-Pa-Ro and the Rossoneri, bounced out of the Coppa Italia by a disinterested Lazio side and berated by their President twice. And, oh yeah, they’ll have to play without the support of any of their traveling fans. Don’t put it past the Napoletanos to get a couple thousand loud and cheering fans in the Curva, but that’s not to be.

Despite the apparent weakness of their opposition, Napoli will have a lot of internal demons to overcome if the trip to Sardenia is to be considered a success. It’s hard to imagine the Azzurri could be under any more pressure. However, the hallmark of this squad since the takeover/resurrection of Aurelio De Laurentis has been their ability to overcome adversity. We seem to show our resiliency only when pushed against the wall. Whether it’s going down to 10 men or getting a goal in the last 10 minutes to salvage a draw or pull out a victory (something Napoli have done five times already this year in Serie A and once in the Coppa Italia).

As mentioned earlier, Maurizio Domizzi will be out for the match. Left winger Mirko Savini is also injured. It’ll fall on Erminio Rullo’s shoulders to play out of position, look lost on set pieces,
never venture forward or put a decent cross into the box. Coach Edy Reja will also be sitting out the match due to suspension. Addition by subtraction? Savini and Reja being out is like finding out your alcoholic transsexual cousin can’t make it to your wedding. Whoever else you invite may not add to the festivities, but they’re not likely to dance naked with your Mom either.

Another match, another suspension for MF Manuele Blasi. If you’re scoring at home, that would be third match Blasi will miss due to suspension. Hey, lookie here! We lead the league in one category. Blasi has 10 yellow cards. 10! One man accounts for more than 20% of a teams’
yellow cards. Now that’s efficiency. Truth be told, Blasi is often Napoli’s best player and always their steadiest and most stabilizing presence in midfield. Level of competition be damned, we’ll miss the part-time underwear model.

There are some interesting story lines at play this week. Pasquale Foggia is back in the Cagliari fold and he’s easily their best player (though Azzurrini starlet Roberto Aquafresca may have the most talent). Being a Napoletano himself, Foggia will continue to be linked with a supposed transfer to Napoli until he retires or takes Maradona’s name in vain. Marco Storari is now back in Serie A on loan from Milan and he’s proven himself a reliable commodity in Italy with his time at Messina. I think of Storari as a young Jimmy Fontana from Palermo…only with more hair and less guile.

The difference between establishing yourself in Serie A and a relegation battle are decided in matches like the one on Sunday. By the way, a 7th consecutive loss by Cagliari would set a team record. I’m just saying.

Form	Napoli (W-D-D-L-D) 7G, 10GA	Cagliari (L-L-L-L-L) 2G, 14GA
Record	Road record (1-3-5) 15G, 20GA	Home record (1-2-7) 8G, 23GA
Injury/Sus.	Domizzi, Blasi, Savini, Reja	Shala, Del Grosso, Marchini
Diffidati	Cannavaro, Contini, Garics	Biondini
Lineups	(3-5-2) Does Reja play any other formation? Ever?Iezzo; Cupi, Cannavaro, Contini; Garics, Gargano, Bogliacino, Hamsyk, Rullo; Lavezzi, Zalayeta	(4-3-2-1) Storari; Ferri, Lopez, Bianco, Agostini; Biondini, Conti, Parola; Foggia, Jeda; Matri