odds and ends…
By: Joe | October 10th, 2007There is no point in rehashing the Inter match. Napoli lost to a more talented side and looked horrible, at least in the first half, doing it. About the only positives from the match were that Gyorgy Garics played well coming on for Gianluca Grava (hopefully pushing Garics one step closer to earning a starting spot), the play of Ezequiel Lavezzi and Genarro Iezzo, and Mirko Savini picked up another yellow card meaning with one more he’ll be suspended for the next match. How’s that for a ‘glass half full’ approach?
* Napoli will put up netting around the pitch in an effort to prevent objects (roman candles, smoke bombs, bottles, effigies of Juventus players) from being thrown onto the pitch. The effort may take a while, doesn’t everything in Italy?, but the good news is they are proposing putting up the type of ‘invisible’ netting that was used in many German stadiums for last year’s World Cup. No word yet on whether the netting will simply cover the Curva’s or the entire stadium. Although it’s sad to have to resort to these measures, kudos to De Laurentis and his staff for recognizing and trying to get in front of the issue.
* Happy Birthday to Edy Reja who turns 62 today. Reja has coached 102 Napoli matches ranking him 7th on the team’s all time list.
* Garics (Austria), Marek Hamsik (Slovakia) & Walter Gargano (Uruguay) earn national team call ups for the upcoming FIFA break. Austria have two friendlies during the break. Being a host country for next year’s European Championship, Austria doesn’t have to go through qualifying…they are as a sure a bet to go three and out as any other side in the tournament. Austria play Switzerland & the Ivory Coast. Slovakia called up Hamsik to play San Marino in a Euro qualifier (could actually see Marek put a few past a hapless San Marino side) and a friendly against Croatia. Gargano was called up by Uruguay to play Bolivia and Paraguay in World Cup qualifying. Despite only having 10 countries, CONMEBOL qualifying for the World Cup starts this week. Wow, that seems….inefficient.
* Rumour has it Roberto Donadoni may call up Maurizio Domizzi or Paolo Cannavaro for Italy’s friendly against South Africa on the 17th in Siena. Donadoni has targeted that contest as an “experimental” game. Remember the disaster against Croatia right after the World Cup? Guh. Not sure what will be gained by having Domizzi play with the likes of Tomasso Rocchi and Fabio Liverani but at this point, seeing an active Napoli player wearing the Italian Azzurri would be a welcome sight.
* Fiorentina, Palermo and Genoa have all reportedly made inquiries to Direttore Generale PierPaolo Marino about striker Emanuele Calaio. The Palermo born striker has only made one start and played a total of 106 minutes in Napoli’s seven Serie A matches this year. The two time Capocannonieri for Napoli has been relegated to coming on as a late substitute in the last five matches. Marcelo Zalayeta has taken his place but since he hasn’t been much of a threat on goal for the last few matches, Reja may go back to giving Calaio a starting spot against Roma. It’d be a mistake to let him go. Calaio is young and has steadily improved his game over the last few years. Last year there was some talk about his being called up for the Azzurri if he kept improving his play. Napoli miss his physical presence up top and his ability to hold up the ball for other players to run into the offensive third. Let’s hope Napoli don’t sell him off only to watch him shine in another uniform.
Category: Team News
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Joe, you might have heard that today five ‘head-supporters’ have been arrested from the Digos (italian secret service). Accuses range from extortion, material damage etc.. against the napoli football club for event dating from way back to last years’ match against Frosinone. Looks like something is finally moving on this front.
Also, it’s been great to see the grassroot Napoli supporters (the real ones) organising a strong media campaign against what happened in San Siro during Inter Napoli.Posted from
United Kingdom
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I read something about it, Karl, but wasn’t able to translate the article enough to mention it here. I know the Camorra were tied into the events at last years Frosinone match which led to a home match ban for supporters.
I don’t know if it’s the Collina effect, the shame from last year’s calciopoli scandal or what, but there does seem to be a shift toward actually rectifying the problems with fan behavior. Of course, if Inter isn’t dealt with similarly to the punishments given to Napoli then we’ll know some things are punishments are ‘fairer’ than others. Lega Calcio is supposed to make a ruling tomorrow on the matter.Worse than the banners that were unfurled welcoming Napoli to Italy and calling Napoli a disease were the chants they give to Zalayeta…supposedly monkey chants to him everytime he touched the ball. Napoli supporters are no angels and they’ve probably done the same to other players but the whole thing makes me sick to my stomach.
Posted from
United States -
That’s the first time I’ve watched Napoli play a full 90 mins… now I can see why there’s so much controversy over tactics. Lavezzi might be better as a trequartista rather than a striker. Also, if you want to play with wing backs you need players with different styles than Grava and Savini. As much as I love Reja he is trying to impose a system which may not make the best use of available talent. Using the glass half full approach, I’m sure Napoli will do better at the Olimpico next week.
Posted from
Canada -
Lavezzi is a pure trequartista in my opinion. If you watch him, he pretty much roams wherever the hell he wants. I like that Reja has given him that freedom at least.
I can’t even begin to explain my frustration with Grava and Savini. I had my doubts about a guy like Cupi but he proved me wrong and I’m comfortable with him on the back line (Contini played in his place against Inter). But Grava and Savini? I mean Grava was directly responsible for the first goal. He gives up the ball and then has a chance to prevent the pass from Ibra but is caught ball watching.
Reja did the same last year with Montervino…he has a veteran he takes a liking too and sticks with him for far too long. The rumblings in Napoli are that Marino is going to shop for a winger in January. I’d like to see us go with a 4-1-2-1-2
Defense: Domizzi, Cannavaro, Contini/Cupi/Maldonado, Garics across the back
D-Midfield: Gargano sitting in front of the backline and Gatti or Montervino as the backups
Central Mid: Hamsik and Blasi (with Dalla Bona, Bogliacino, Rullo as the backups)
Trequartista: Lavezzi with DeZerbi as the backup
Strikers: Calaio and Zalayeta with Sosa as the backupIf Reja continues with a 3-5-2 we need at least another winger and we need another striker regardless of what formation we use.
Posted from
United States -
nothing wrong with 3-5-2 in itself in my opinion. we just don’t have the right players for it so we push players out of natural position. we don’t have any real wing-back except Garics. (against Inter I think it was actually a 5-3-2 … kind of sad really!) As for Lavezzi it’s surprising how isolated he seems at times. He moves far more than anybody else and is exhausted by the 60′. I agree on trying him behind 2 strikers, at least in home matches.
Posted from
United Kingdom -
Off topic here, but Why was Pia sent to Serie B??
Posted from
India -
Pia was loaned out to Serie B side Treviso because the assumption was that he couldn’t cut the physical nature of Serie A.
I can’t say I really disagree with the move, Kshitiz. He played a lot in the beginning of last year and played himself out of the lineup. He got some games in at the end and did OK but nothing to make you think he was Serie A capable. In hindsight, they should’ve sold him in January when they would’ve undoubtedly received more from him. There were offers from Atalanta and Udinese which De Laurentis blocked. Pia even opened the door for Napoli making a “play me or let me go” plea when he first got benched. I thought that would be enough to get him gone but I guess not.
Posted from
United States
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