Facere Ex Nihilo

By: Neil | October 28th, 2009

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.

Many people who watched the game will argue that Napoli deserved a point based on their positive attacking play and their never say die attitude. I don’t agree with this for the following reason. Milan wins this game if

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!