Eight consecutive victories and +18 over Inter. Best offense, best defense and a number of other statistics that certify the extraordinary season of Napoli. The artificer is his trainer, Luciano Spalletti, whose analysis after the match however started from the red light suffered by Mario Rui. “Having those things happen there is a symptom of lack of maturity, but in football they sometimes fit in – explained the coach -. The essential thing is that the others get together and want to show they can make up for it, they’ve had a very important reaction. In the second half especially the midfielders played a tough game, for those who want to bring the victory home.The quality of the team in possession is exalted, but when the midfielders go over the line the opponents restart Lobotka you can never skip it. It becomes very difficult to steal the ground from him, he goes on everyone, even the biggest and tallest ones. He has this cubic physique that manages to keep up even with superior opponents. When I was at Inter we tried to sign him, but we didn’t succeed due to its cost: Inter had financial fair play and couldn’t make purchases, the fact that someone smart like Giuntoli saw it means that it’s not just the intuition of a person , but he was watched by the best managers”. The men on the bench also make the difference: “They entered very well – he added -. Elmas came on with a speed, intensity and willingness that allowed us not to suffer this numerical inferiority, with this forward pressure, this recovery as a midfielder so as not to let Empoli climb too much. The risk today was being below their level of fighting, against Empoli it becomes difficult because for them the games finish in the 100th minute, they always come at you at the same pace. Being the same Naples and putting in the same willingness to run and sacrifice meant that a game came out where Zanetti’s team had to surrender. It was an impressive show of strength, we have to give super compliments to the boys because they made a lot of stuff. They know we have a very important opportunity, that it shouldn’t be for them either, but for the fans and their people. They’ll give it their all, I’m sure of that, I’ve seen things this season that bode well for the future as well. Although better the egg today than the chicken tomorrow“.
“Osimhen gave a leader’s message in the locker room”
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Spalletti also has praise for Osimhen: “In the locker room, at the end of the first half, he said «let’s remember last year’s match». They become messages from leaders, behaviors of footballers who have the correct mentality for what the pursuit of the collective result is. Then he had two chances to score, but he got there tired due to the willingness offered first to chase after his opponents”. And the coach’s last line is precisely on the latter: because he knows he’s coming to play against a team that has achieved results against anyone, so it becomes a prize to achieve results – he concluded -. Everyone plays their life with us, the fact of maintaining this difference against so stimulated opponents is a sign that the team knows how to interpret moments well. He understood what team spirit should be”.
Osimhen: “One of the best seasons of my career, I didn’t expect Drogba’s compliments”
Victor Osimhen also spoke after the match, scoring for the eighth consecutive league match: “I’m happy to have the coach’s confidence, I just try to give my best on the pitch – said the Nigerian -. It was a difficult field, we remembered last year when we had suffered a comeback, it’s a very important victory. Am I only behind Haaland on goal average? It’s one of the best seasons of my career, Haaland is also doing great things, I feel great and it shows. Spalletti is a very demanding coach and even in training he asks for a lot, he scolds us like everyone else does but we try to repay him. I was surprised by Drogba’s words, when I saw the message on social media it was incredible because he was my idol as a child. I appreciated the compliments from him, they are a great motivation for me and I am happy ”.