Mourinho does have a point. I watched the Milan derby last night, and from a neutral perspective it was even better than a Champions League game. Both teams showed the kind of skill and tenacity it takes to compete for the Scudetto. Napoli has shown lots of heart, but the richest teams in Serie A all have thoroughbreads at every position. After watching our reserves struggle against Bologna, I’m worried our depth will be a factor, especially if we go on a big UEFA Cup run.

Right now our squad is in good shape to qualify directly for the Europa League next year. However, if we can sustain a Champions League spot until January, De Laurentiis might choose to spend big in order to improve the team. There are always rumours linking us with South Americans – the latest two names were River Plate midfielder Diego Buonanotte and 17 year old Uruguayan striker Abel Hernandez. Napoli has also been linked with unsettled Real Madrid midfielder Royston Drenthe. This kind of speculation is fun to read but the rumours rarely become reality.

It is more likely Napoli will sign a player like Siena’s Daniele Galloppa. Although foreign players can turn out great – see Lavezzi and Gargano – foreigners are a higher risk proposition. If for whatever reason they don’t work out, you can be stuck with a non EU player whose high wages might be a turn off for other teams. If Italians are a bust, it’s an easier problem to solve.

On the injury front, Lavezzi is healing faster than expected and will likely play some part in Thursday’s epic showdown with Benfica. Iezzo’s broken nose will keep him out of the lineup a bit longer, while Bogliacino is still recovering from a broken ankle.

Finally, much respect to Luigi Vitale, who is now being scouted by Pierluigi Casiraghi for the U-21 Azzurri. I have watched Vitale a lot and you can see him growing into a solid two way player. He’s still young so he’ll continue making some mistakes, but his goal in the first leg against Benfica proved he could be a big game player. The Castellamare di Stabia native has won the starter’s job from Daniele Mannini, and should keep developing.

I’ll be back later with a preview of Napoli’s 2nd leg UEFA Cup showdown in Lisbon.

*  For the second time this season, Napoli lost to Cagliari. A Cagliari side that hadn’t scored two goals in a match in 10 weeks, had lost six consecutive matches and hadn’t won since the sixth week of the season. Pasquale Foggia came on as a 60th minute substitute and
turned Cagliari completely around. Napoli surrendered two goals in stoppage time
to lose what may be the worst defeat since the playoff promotion loss to
Avellino three seasons ago. Jeremy at the Cagliari blog  is so pumped he doesn’t know
what to do with himself.

Hint: getting a result against Juventus, or perhaps just maiming a few bianconeri, would suffice, bro. Cagliari demonstrated all the heart and passion that my beloved Napoli have shown these last few years. And for those who may saw that Napoli simply lost focus during the final few minutes, I would respectfully disagree. From the moment Foggia came on, we had
no answers. Our defense couldn’t close down the spaces, our midfield kept coughing up the ball and the substitutions? We brought on Serie C veterans Gianluca Grava and Francesco Montervino and “one trick pony” Roberto Sosa. If you’re scoring at home that means we left Samuele Dalla Bona, Emanuele Calaio and Roberto De Zerbi on the bench (De Zerbi wasn’t called up for the game because we had a deal to send him out on loan to Brescia). Suffice it to say, it was black Sunday for anyone supporting Napoli blue. And then….

*  The dreaded votes of confidence came for coach Edy Reja. President Aurelio De Laurentis said Reja was his man and had his full back and blamed injuries and suspensions for our poor form. I’m not buying it. Losing Mirko Savini is a wash and while keeper Genarro Iezzo was out for the Cagliari match, backup Matteo Gianello did a decent job and given Iezzo’s form this year, I wouldn’t be surprised if he would have been even more out of position than Gianello was on the late shots that chipped over him and hit the crossbar. Direttore Generale Pier Paolo Marino than said there’s no crisis (which may in fact be true) and the coach is not under any risk of losing his job. Again, I’m not buying that either as the perfect storm of events are swirling around the club and there are too many qualified candidates out there to think Marino hasn’t made some inquiries and would be ready to pull the trigger if things continue down
this path. And then…

*  Marino went out and made some deals. €17 worth of deals. Considering Napoli spent somewhere south of €27 in transfers over the summer, the deals were tantalizing and amount to a huge infusion of youth, talent and excitement into a squad that has become more and
more predictable as they look to hang on for dear life. 24-year old Midfielder Daniele Mannini
was purchased from Brescia for €8 (link says the number is €5, it isn’t). Mannini is a dangerous
winger who plays primarily on the left side but is versatile enough to play on either side. Marino compared his talents to ManUtd’s Cristiano Ronaldo…hopefully with less hair product and without the speedo and diving goggles. Inter Milan were thought to have had the right of first refusal on Mannini and would have loaned him out to another Serie A side, but Marino swooped in and grabbed him. As of this writing, we’re still not sure if he’s coming immediately or in June.
Marino has said a decision will be made by Wednesday. With the recent injury to keeper Genarro Iezzo, Marino went to South America again and struck a bargain for Argentinos Juniors keeper Nicolas Navarro. The 22-year old was purchased for €4 and he was rumored to be leaving for Europe this summer. Navarro is a big guy who seems extremely acrobatic and calm for someone so young. I guess this puts those Marco Amelia rumors to bed. When Iezzo comes back from his injury, there’ll be a log jam at the keeper spot so I think, while no one is talking about it, Matteo Gianello could be on his way out. Then Marino went back to the Brescia well (remember Marek Hamsyk was purchased from Brescia this summer for €6) and picked up a young center half stud I had been clamoring for since August. Fabiano Santacroce was purchased for €5 and he comes very highly regarded from coach Sersi Cosmi. I love Cosmi and I’d tend to think he was just pumping up his player but I’ve seen Brescia play on RAI a few times this year and the kid is good. He’s strong and lean and gets stuck in with the
best of them. He’s also featured for PierLuigi Casiraghi’s U-20 side which can’t be all that bad.

The most exciting part of these deals is that all these players are young and up and coming stars. In theory, this should mean the summer would be spent on adding veteran players to address some of the remaining holes (forward and another winger).

So all in all an eventful week. I’m tired. Back to work.

This is how you play a game when you don’t want to win. I wanted to stay in the Coppa Italia because it’s an avenue to European competition [the winner automatically qualifies for the EUFA Cup]. When a team plays at home you have dictate the play and not allow your opponents to do it. All the changes made were done only after the [Lazio] goal. I saw a pissed off and motivated Lazio side today, like we should have been. As Eduardo said [Reja] the test never ends. We are all in the same boat. At this point we’re looking at 38 points in Serie A [to avoid relegation]. At that point we can start seeing the two jewels of our youth system. If this performance was useful in tiring out Lazio for our Serie A match on Sunday then so be it. Lotito [Lazio President] is better than I am, because he asks questions of his [technical] staff. I asked Marino, but he said the team is built in June and on the market there aren’t any players better than our own. However I want two (ali?…is that wingers?), because I’m like the other Napoletani:  I want to win.

Better start getting on the phone, Mr. Marino. Mr. Reja, you may want to consider your retirement plans. I’m sure Francesco Montervino can recommend some nice Serie C2 side you both can help rescue.

Restoring Napoli to a European giant will require time, a solid and legal
strategy, the right infrastructure and money. Lots and lots of money. The type
of money that mid-table dwellers like Reggina, Udinese, Siena and Catania can’t
begin to spend without fear of bankruptcy. Napoli has been there. The sentence
(likely to be relegation) is stiff and takes years to recover. Just ask any
Genoa fan. After playing at the San Siro and the Stadio Olimpico no squad wants
to suffer the fate of playing at the Stadio Comunale in Teramo in front of a
packed house…of 4,000.

Napoli spent the 6th highest amount in Italy during the transfer market and
now rank 10th of all Serie A teams in terms of player salaries.

Now let’s go grab a EUFA Cup spot and start kicking some ass!

* I chose three squads…no disrespect intended to Barcelona, Chelsea, Liverpool and the rest.

The nephew of Dino De Laurentis and a successful movie producer in his own right, Aurelio literally rebuilt the squad: front office, athletic equipment, media personnel,
coaches and players all had to be acquired in the frantic summer of 2004. The following eventful years saw Napoli miss out on promotion in a playoff loss to neighboring Avellino, two successive promotions bringing them up to Serie A from Italy’s third division. So coming off a pounding against Udinese, the likes of which hadn’t been seen since 1929, Aurelio must have felt proud. Apparently he also felt like getting some things off his chest. 

De Laurentis gave an ”interview” on Sky Sports shortly after the Udinese drubbing. It turns out Aurelio was not very pleased with the “ratings” the Sky Sports pundits gave Napoli’s calciomercato signings. De Laurentis said words are cheap and that in his film experience he’s learned to keep his mouth shut about things he doesn’t know. Well, they’re pundits. Does anyone take them seriously?

After splashing almost €24 million this offseason, Zio Aurelio felt he deserved some love. In fact, the figure was the sixth highest in Italy behind Juventus €57 million (!), Roma €34, Inter €32, Milan €28 and Fiorentina €27.

No wonder the city loves the man. He has a passion which borders on obsession, he’s loaded, he’s successful and he always dresses per fara una bel figura.  The video is priceless. Ti amo, Aurelio.

* Lega Calcio allowed Napoli to once again use the Societa Sportiva Calcio Napoli name in 2005.

Mr. De Laurentis had the daunting task of building the team from scratch. Players, uniforms, training grounds, sponsors, coaches, equipment had to all be procured. Napoli’s punishment was to start the 2004/05 campaign in Serie C1. It would mark the first time the franchise had ever been in Italy’s 3rd division. The squad, whose players were culled together in a frantic summer, had fantastic success in their first season. They amassed 61 points, finished in 3rd place, and qualified for the playoffs. Napoli Soccer advanced past the first round by knocking Sambenedettese 3-1 on aggregate. The succesful first pass meant Napoli would be pitted against neighboring Avellino for the right to play Serie B calcio. Alas, a return to Serie B was not in the cards after a scoreless draw in the home leg left Napoli vulnerable and they lost 2-1 in the away leg. A second season in Serie C1 was in store for the squadra partenopei and Napoletano’s were crushed by the dual indignity of continuing to play in Serie C while watching Avellino climb up to Serie B.

The 2005/06 version of the squad took on a more formidable as the squad was strengthened with the addition of Genarro Iezzo, Mariano Bogliacino and Ruben Maldonado. The squad absolutely steamrolled through Serie C1 and amassed 68 points, a full 13 points ahead of 2nd place Frosinone. Additionally, the squad turned San Paolo back into a fortress as the squad was undefeated at home in 17 matches (13 wins and 4 draws). Lega Calcio saw fit to allow the squad to re-establish the S.S.C. Napoli moniker (Societa Sportiva Calcio Napoli).

The recently concluded campaign was a roller coaster ride for all involved. The calciomercato season saw Napoli bring home native son Paolo Cannavaro from Parma, former Chelsea midfielder Samuele Dalla Bona, Roberto De Zerbi from Catania who helped them gain promotion to Serie A and the 2005/06 capocannonieri Christian Bucchi from Modena. It was obvious the intention was to compete in Serie B and potentially earn a playoff spot.

Mr. De Laurentis maintained the plan was to return to Serie A in five years, which would mean Serie A calcio would be played in 2008/09. However, the string of positive results had the Napoli tifoseria dreaming of immediate advancement. The season kicked off in tremendous fashion as Napoli rolled passed Frosinone and Serie A side Ascoli in the Coppa Italia. The stage was set to play Juventus at the San Paolo. The match was one for the ages and my favorite Napoli game I can remember. Alex Del Piero scored the go-ahead goal late into extra time and it looked as if all was lost. However, Paolo Cannavaro hit an impossible bicycle kick in the closing seconds to beat World Cup winning keeper Gigi Buffon. Napoli wound up winning 8-7 on penalty kicks and denying Juventus their only shot at playing European football in 2007/08 (the winner of the Coppa Italia qualifies for a EUFA spot).

The season itself was marked with tremendous highs (drawing Juve at home and a string of 19 consecutive matches without a loss) and spirit crushing matches (losing to relegation bound Crotone 2-1, drawing with Triestina at home on a late equalizer). The squad is now in their rightful place back among the Italian calcio giants. For their international fans, a return to Serie A means we are likely to see more matches. Fans have had to purchase RAI International and be content with only viewing a handful of matches. The abundance of games on Fox Soccer Channel and the occasional RAI match should make following Napoli easier and more enjoyable next year. It feels great to know we’ll be traveling to the San Siro and the Stadio Olimpico instead of the Ezio Scida in Crotone or the Stadio Comunale in Pizzighettone which seats a whopping 2,500 specatators.

Thank you, Aurelio De Laurentis. You have helped restore a bit of pride in Napoletano’s throughout the world.