Cagliari vs. Napoli
By: Neil | November 24th, 2012Based on the last two and half weeks — or even the last two and half years — the big question is how will Napoli’s offence look without Cavani? The Uruguayan talisman is suspended due to yellow card accumulation so Pandev or Vargas will play prima punta with Insigne as seconda punta. When was the last time Cavani had a quiet game and Napoli won? It’s not like the team falls apart without Cavani, but his goals are often the difference between winning and not winning. That’s the value of a great striker. Probable lineup: De Sanctis, Gamberini, Canna, Britos – Maggio, Inler, Behrami, Hamsik, Zuniga – Insigne – Pandev (if healthy)
This is Napoli’s first game in Cagliari’s new Stadio Is Arenas. The Sardinian club had been looking to get out of the Sant’Elia and actually played its home games during the second half of last season in Trieste. Now they have renovated the Is Arenas, which was formerly a Serie C2 stadium, into a 16,000 seater ready for Serie A action.
Sadly the Sardinian club has been a merry go round of managers over the last few years. President Massimo Cellini is no stranger to sacking managers and/or making hasty and emotional decisions. Here is a recap of recent mangers:
2010: Pierpaolo Bisoli
Nov 2010 to Aug. 2011 – Roberto Donadoni
2011 – Massimo Ficcandenti
2011 – April 2012 – Davide Ballardini
April 2012 – May 2012 – Massimo Ficcandenti
2012 – Ivo Pulga
This is Pulga’s first managerial post. Thus far Cagliari have compiled a 4-4-5 record, good enough for 11th place in the standings. The club has the same midfield spine of previous season with Conti, Cossu, and Nainggolan anchoring the team. Two young strikers to watch for are Victor Ibarba and Marco Sau. The 22 year old Ibarbo is a good all around player with size, speed, ball control, and strength. He already has 4 caps on a Colombia team rich in strikers like Falcao, Jackson Martinez, James Rodriguez, and Parma’s Dorlan Pabon. Marco Sau is a native Sardinian and has been with Cagliari since 2007, getting loaned out a number of times to smaller clubs to gain experience. The short (5′7″) striker made a name for himself recently with a couple of goals against Inter getting Cagliari a point.
All signs point to this one being tight and low scoring: Napoli knows they will struggle without Cavani and won’t be looking to give up anything at the back as their talisman is not there to bail them out. Could be a similar game to two seasons ago when a last second Lavezzi goal broke a 0-0 draw and gave Napoli a morale boosting win. And last season this game did end 0-0.
Prediction: 0-0 with Mazzarri claiming it was a difficult stadium and Napoli did well and should have won.
Some Related Napoli Posts:
Category: Team News
Comments
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Juve, Inter and fiorentina didnt win. What a dream rd.
Any reinforcements for Jan have to improve the postion not just back it up.
A better option for the left side. Someone who can play left back or left mid equally as well and possibly a Vice-Cavani. We didnt have Cavani or Pandev today and we managed but I would hate to think how we would manage if those players were out in the long term.Anyway great away win! we could of been top if not for thoses lapses against torino and milan.
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Great round for us. I really liked Gamberini and Britos in defense, they seem to provide a more solid formation than Aronica and campagnaro. Any reinforcements in January should be for esterni positions. I am not liking Maggio or Zuniga this season. Midfield is working well with the swiss trio and hamsik. Vargas is coming along nicely now, understanding the movement patterns and slotting into positions well….if he can just score a goal or two I think it will be the beginning of the real Vargas at Napoli…reminds me a lot like Pandev when he came over from inter, just needed time to come up to speed with Napoli’s playing style.
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Joe- I agree with you. Maggio hasn’t played well hopefully he can turn it around. We might do well giving Mesto a few starts.
In January I’d love to see Bocchetti on free transfer. Creates interchangeable LCB(Bocchetti and Britos) and RCB (Campagnaro and Gamberini). Plus finally a LWB- Zuniga is tricky and speedy but being on the left side I think is hindering him.
Forza Napoli. The game in 2 weeks vs Inter is going to be huge!
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Here is a neutral analysis (ESPN’s Robbie Mustoe and Stewart Robson) discussing Napoli’s win over Cagliari. I have to agree with Mustoe – the guy has been watching Napoli for a while and notices the same trends we do.
The bottom line is good: Napoli is in 2nd and advanced in the Europa League with one game to spare. But how far can this team go? Is the early season form sustainable?
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Great call about bocchetti Steve..he would be an excellent pick up and has been putting his hand up for a hometown return.
Mesto should be given more of run, Zuniga I am just not impressed with this year. There is saying in Napoli that goes; tutto fumo e niente arrosto….and for me that is what Zuniga is like. -
Was working so I dvr and didn’t get to see it until now.
I am happy with the win and of course agree that
Not only should aronica NOT be on the field but
We could be tied for first! Still happy though.
But I can’t believe that Cagliari was playing
ALL THE WAY UP IN TRIESTE? Couldn’t find a closer stadium?
Anyone know why they would go SO FAR?
Good game happy with te results and happy Milan
Could help us out. Possibly new fratelli?(with genoa
Performing so poorly in relegation zone right now?)
Forza Mezzogiorno! Glad to see palermoa and Cagliari etc.
Still in it. Would really like no Christmas presents
Other than to go into the break either tied fe or in first!
Forza napoli! -
Britos was man of the match for me, which pretty much sums up how we played. He bossed the 18 yard box the way a defender is supposed to do and won everything in the air, the only worrying point of his play is when the ball is on the ground at his feet and he has to play it out, he can be slow and sloppy with his passes. And as for passes, what exactly was Cannavaro doing with his aimless, over hit and pointless long high balls up to Insigne. With 6 midfielders you would think that we would control the ball in the middle of the park but oh no, not when you have players that dont look for the ball to start the build up like Behrami, that have no technique and have very little ball control like Dzemaili, that are completely out of form and needin time on the bench like Maggio, who are right footed right backs played out of posisition like Zuniga, i guess the right thing to do is the launch the ball upfield and by pass them all. The standard of football is gettin worse week by week with this team but still we are grindin out good results. sign of a good team or sign of a lucky team? Will Britos, Cannavaro, Gamberini be our startin back three or will Campagnaro come straight back into the team. Will mesto get a game against Pescara or will the ghost of Maggio still be out haunting that pitch come sunday morning?…We need to reinforce in January and we need to reinforce smart. Bocchetti on a free and recall Vitale from loan if we want to do it on the cheap and leave money for a midfielder that can run and pass and shoot instead of having 6 midfielders that can do one thing well but not the other two. I look at Fiorentina and see the manager we should have and some of the players we should have like, Cuadrado, Valero and Jovetic. Imagine the midfield we might have had, Inler, Hamsik, Valero, Veratti, Cuadrado and Armero….We could have got them all for the money we got from the sale of Lavezzi…
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Cannavaro has been playing that long ball for years. I almost feel as though he feels vindicated by the two or three assists he has in the last 6-7 years.
Ciro, 2nd in the league and through to the group stages of Europa on a shoe string budget. You can’t be that upset can you? For all of Mazzarri’s downfalls, I’ve said it before there are less than 5 coaches in Europe that have proven that they are capable of managing a team to success in both the league and Europe simultaneously. And I would think that all would command salaries well out of the range DeLa is willing to pay.
Hell I’ve yelled at Mazzarri through my television more times than I can remember (like anytime Aronica plays or Insigne doesn’t) but he keeps getting the job done as well as many coaches with double the budget and depth.
Imagine if you were a Liverpool, Chelsea, Madrid, Man City, Milan or Juve fan in the last 10 years. How many of these teams have gone deep in European competition while still finishing in the top 3 of their league? Napoli’s player salary budget is a fraction of any of these teams.
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We dont have have a shoe string budget,thats false, we have plenty of money but thats not my problem, my problem is the standard of football we are playing, it stinks, we play anti football most of the time, happy to give the ball away time after time and prefer to chase it down and tire the players out who then cant do anything with the ball and now with the extra focus on long balls instead of the previous years use of Lavezzis speed, its caveman football. whose fault is it that we have no depth then? Liverpool were always top 4 when gettin to the finals of the champions league, Chelsea are always top four if not top 2 same as Real Madrid, City are new to Europe but still are top of the league, Milan up until this year always in champions league and Juve without calciopoli would always be in the top four so i dont know what the naming those teams meant.
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Ciro you hit the nail on the head. It’s terrible to watch and I think we have the talent to play differently. Fiorentina’s market was what ours should have been. But we’re 2 points off the top playing terribly for about a month now. Idk how its happening. But my optimist self says we can only improve from here.
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http://forzaitalianfootball.com/2012/11/napoli-club-focus-dear-santa-for-christmas-could-we-have/
this article sums up what most of us have been saying, the teams needs…cover on the left, vice cavani and cover in the middle just in case one if the three swiss get injured. Hopefully some smart moves in Jan combined with some smart tinkering from Mazzari and the team will be in with a good shot at the scudetto. Freaking Europa is abit of stumbling block though..wouldn’t really bother me if we get knocked out if it increases our chances for the scudetto.
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Chelsea finished fifth last year and are only in the Champions league because they won it. Madrid hasn’t won the champions league in a long time despite them spending truckloads of cash on players and coaches. Milan, despite their more recent Champions league successes, before two years ago hadn’t won a scudetto in almost ten years. Liverpool haven’t won the premier league in over 2 decades.
Napoli spends around 50 million Euros on players’ salaries. Compare that to the other teams I mentioned: Chelsea (191 million #s), Man City (174 million #s), Liverpool (135 million #’s), Milan (120 million euros). As fans I get that we want it all, Scudetto, UCL finals, Copa Italia etc.
We have to realistic though. right now I’m happy in second, I wish it was the knock out phases of UCL instead of Europa, but hey we can’t have it all, especially when competing with clubs that spend more than double on players’ salaries.
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I am a fan of Napoli on all levels, including soccer. I love all the good, the bad, and the ugly of the Vesuvian Culture.
I love the game now more than ever, the reasons perhaps all interilated with one another.
I have little knowldge on the technical, and tactical aspect of the beautiful game. But through my lenghty numbers of years watching it I was able to grasp the true meaning of the game based on my limitations.
I just would like someone to perhaps read my rant and perhaps gain a different angle of FAN-O-COLOGY.
I want my team to win based on their skills.
I want them to loose on their weakness and not their mistakes.
I want them to play with the spirit and heart of their fans.
I want them to help and protect one another on the pitch like they would their own little brother.
Lastly for the sake of being conscientiously brief, I want to my team to be SCUDETTETED this year for the sake of Mazzarri because he truly loves the boys. -
I love what you wrote Secondo Napcorda. I am not sure the last one is realistic, but to want the Scudetto, is to be a fan. To appreciate what they are able to accomplish is being a realistic fan. Check out my hometown San Francisco Giants in baseball for what a team of moderate means and immense spirit and togetherness can accomplish
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What does everyone think about the Italian reports circulating on Quagliarella and that he wants to come back to Naples. Personally, and I’m not biased or anything lol, that merda can stay at Juve.
Also on the same note, it sounds likely Floccari will come over in Jan
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In response to the question of Rp46.
I don’t know if Quagliarella talents or lack of, or maybe the fact that he was led astray by temptation caused you to think of him the way you do. I can add to that my personal view. The motherland should never abbandon one of its own …especially if a sense of remorse if manifested by said son….
In the end all that counts is that he was born raised and loves Napoli and so do we….
FORZA NAPOLI!!!!! -
I think of it differently, would cannavaro, Insigne or Cavani (adopted son) ever leave Naples for the dirty black and whites stripes – that’s not a rhetorical question because I can answer it now. No.
A move to a different league perhaps but not a move to Juventus.
Quagliarella left Naples in a time of rebuilding for personal glory, only to end up regretting it. So what we have here is a case of a loved son abandoning the mother country, not the mother country abandoning the son.
I do have to thank him for one thing, his leaving made way for a much more talented and loved son, The Matador. For that I thank you Quagliarella.
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I’d take Quags back in a heartbeat. Just consider him the prodigal son and hope he scores some pretty goals against Juve
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Personally wouldn’t take him back. Broke my heart. After him kissing the Napoli badge one year and the rube one the next I can’t trust anything he says. He’s a mercenary plain and simple.
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Si to Quags! Take him back in a second
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