The Importance of Set Pieces

By: Neil | January 25th, 2009

Napoli 0 Roma 3
I’m going to get attacked for writing this, but Napoli played a better game than Roma this week. How do I explain the decisive scoreline? Roma converted two set pieces in the first 35 minutes to take control of the game. A comeback was possible, but it was always going to be difficult against a really good team. In the big picture, Napoli came out strong and had Roma mostly on the defensive for the first half. The two goals, especially the first one, came against the run of play. I can’t remember the last time set pieces cost Napoli this much, but in big games you have to execute and Roma took advantage of Napoli’s inability to deal with a free kick and a corner. That was the difference right there. If Napoli had been able to field Iezzo and Hamsik, the score might have been flipped around.

A game like this shows how important Iezzo is to the team. Gianello doesn’t command the six yard box very well, which led to the opening goal. Offside or not, anything that close to the goal line has to be the keeper’s ball. Admittedly, it was a well taken inswinging free kick but the keeper has to be more aggressive and not stay rooted to the line. On the second goal the defence gave Juan a clean header from the heart of the penalty area. It went just past Gianello’s fingertips, but Iezzo might have been able to get a hand to it. I really like Gianello but today he showed why he’s our third best keeper and can’t realistically compete for the starting job. He’s a really good shot stopper but a keeper has to do much more than that. Both Iezzo and Navarro seem to read the game better.

Offensively, the team missed Hamsik’s ability to create offence. Pazienza did nothing, and I hope he falls well down the pecking order for midfielders. When Bogliacino came on at halftime he was able to make some penetrating passes, something the midfield couldn’t do in the first half. Gargano and Blasi are really good at getting the ball out wide to Mannini and Maggio, but those kind of breakout passes don’t trouble the defence unless they lead to a fast break. If Bogliacino had started instead of Pazienza I think Napoli’s offence would have been much better. As it stands, the offence is struggling. Lavezzi can’t do everything by himself, and even when our other striker plays well – I thought Zalayeta was our best player – they need help from midfield, and except for the Hamsik role the other four midfielders have too many defensive responsibilities to jump into the attack every time. In the first half of the season Napoli’s inability to create consistently good scoring chances was masked by our clinical finishing ability. Today it was Roma who had that clinical ability from the start, and it won them the game.

Highlights:

If there’s any consolation it was good to see Napoli back on form again. After the first two goals Napoli kept playing their game, and there was a positive reaction unlike previous weeks. If we had been able to score the first goal I think we would have won comfortably, but it just wasn’t our day. We keep getting lucky in the standings – Genoa tied, Fiorentina and Lazio lost – but we need to keep playing at this level for the rest of the season if we want to hold on to a Europa League place.

In his post game comments Reja pointed to the referee but I think he’s using the ref as a scapegoat for Napoli’s problems with set pieces. It actually might be good for the players’ confidence. If they think the ref cost Napoli the game, they’ll come out with the same approach Wednesday against Fiorentina. But if they think set pieces were the problem, it could dent their confidence even more. In any case Napoli was beaten by a team with a little more experience in big games the last couple of seasons. Hopefully the squad will learn from the mistakes and play better defensive games against Fior and Udinese. Forza Napoli.

Le Pagelle:

Gianello: 5.0 Needs to command his area better
Santacroce: 5.0 Rusty after a long layoff
Cannavaro: 6.0 Not as sharp as usual
Contini: 6.5 Shouldn’t be our best defender, but was today.
Maggio: 6.0 Outplalyed by Riise
Blasi: 6.0 Average game
Gargano: 6.5 Yet again Napoli’s best midfielder
Pazienza: 4.5 Could have been subbed even earlier
Mannini: 6.0 good defensively
Lavezzi: 6.0 tried to do too much
Zalayeta: 7.0 showed a nose for goal that hasn’t been there this season

Subs: Bogliacino 6.5, Denis 5.0, Montervino 5.0

Reja: 5.5 Should have started Bogliacino

Collectively the team played well but at an individual level nobody really stood out. We needed someone to rise to the occasion and have a big game today but it wasn’t meant to be.