Optimism In the Face of Defeat

By: Neil | November 30th, 2008

Inter 2 Napoli 1
Originally this blog was going to be titled ‘Napoli lost this game as soon as Reja filled out the lineup card’ but an unusual series of events has caused me to change perspective.

Actually, there was just one event – at about the 35th minute, with Inter leading 2-0, my wireless internet connection disappeared, and I wasn’t able to watch the rest of the game. The part of the game that I did see confirmed my worst fears. Reja gave starts to Aronica, Rinaudo, and Pazienza over better and more established players. Napoli came out cautious and allowed Inter to take the initiative. Inter was playing with panache and took a comfortable two goal lead thanks to some clinical finishes from swashbuckling link up play. As the second half was going on without me, I was imagining worst case scenarios where Inter was piling on the goals, trying to get as many names on the scoresheet as possible. But none of that happend. Napoli countered with their own candidate for goal of the season, and the game ended 2-1.

I have no idea what happend in the second half, and if anyone who did see the whole game wants to leave a quick report, please do so. But when I finally got to another computer and checked the final score, I was pleasantly surprised. Napoli, playing with three players who clearly aren’t starters, didn’t collapse after going down 2-0 on the road to one of the best teams in Europe. Another good omen came when I checked the standings. Napoli was still in fourth – Fiorentina, Lazio, Udinese and Genoa all failed, with only Genoa picking up a point. Even though Napoli lost, nothing really negative came out of the game, other than Reja’s player selections. And the substitution of Hamsik. But Napoli fans should be used to that by now, in fact we should come to expect nothing else.

The bottom line is that we’re in fourth place with the following teams ahead on the schedule: Siena, Lecce, Torino, Catania, and Torino. Three of those teams are currently in the bottom five, and there’s no reason to believe that Napoli will be overtaken for 4th when the first half of the schedule is complete. In fact, if Milan or Juve slip up, Napoli could even rise a position. And it’s unfair to suggest that Napoli is slumping. Even though we’ve won only once in the past five league games, two of those game were against Milan and Inter, who are always tricky opponents. And if you look at three of those games – Milan, Atalanta, and Cagliari – Napoli was denied by late goals, which is a combination of bad luck and lapses in concentration.

Moving forward, Pierpaolo Marino has reaffirmed the Europa League as the target for next season. And here’s the best part: it’s almost impossible for Reja to manage any worse than he has the past month or so. Even if Reja keeps making mistakes in preparation, selection, tactics, and substitutions, it won’t cost Napoli any more than it already has. Against Inter the team proved that it can compete game in game out without proper coaching. Based on the first fourteen weeks, Napoli should improve on last season’s 8th place finish, and I believe there’s still a chance for the Champions League, although both Fiorentina and Roma are playing much better than at the beginning of the season.

Here are the post game interviews from Reja: Channel 4, and goal.com

And the highlights, featuring three sensational goals:

And finally, the Napoli player ratings, and the goal.com ratings.

Next up is a home game against Siena, who are overachieving yet again with a 12th place position in the table. For those of you who wanted to see Calaio get a start last season, you’ll have to wait even longer: he’s not starting with Siena either. And people were blaming Reja for letting his talents go to waste.