Sensational at Maradona: a Sarri who denies many of his principles, cages Spalletti and nails Napoli.
– A Sarri contrary to his principles designs a contracted, narrow, concentrated and short Lazio that nails Spalletti, at home, where no one has yet succeeded. The tactical key came from that Tuscan who had made his game dream of that very stadium which is now in love with another of his fellow countrymen. Probably no observer would have expected a Lazio strong in its weak point – mental strength and concentration for ninety minutes – and a Napoli weak in its strong point – dribbling speed. This unusual mix of factors leads to a sensational result;
– The surprise is Neighbor in the middle of the field. This closes off every central space forcing Napoli to play with repeated large game changes by the central players as Lobotka, the best central midfielder in the championship, was constantly shielded by Immobile and enclosed between the striker himself and the three in midfield. Lazio soils the Neapolitan dribble, keeps the team short and narrow. He let the central players direct the game, making sure that Kvara and Osimhen, on whom the game necessarily had to converge, often find themselves isolated in the dense biancoceleste network. All this leads to a boring first fraction but tactically full of ideas;
– The plot seems to change in the second half. Napoli dribbles faster and creates headaches for the Lazio defensive phase. Lazio intends to play on the error. She waits, hungry, for a wrong pass, an imperfect disengagement to be able to strike. Patience is required on both benches. The Neapolitan Tuscan does not ask for haste but perseverance in the search for the useful passage; the Tuscan from Lazio, on the other hand, incites his friends to have peace of mind while waiting for that very mistake. So much so that Kvara fails to sweep a ball on the edge of the area and Vecino invents a rebound shot from outside the box that surprises everyone. Lazio is ahead. The remaining minutes pass between some Neapolitan occasions and many errors, on both sides, due to the intensity put on the pitch by both teams;
– Sarri, as we said, does penance and his pawns on the Maradona chessboard are devoted to tactical application in the defensive phase. Clear sign it is Cyrus Immobile who spends the whole game thinking about neutralizing Lobotka and trying to get out of the grip of the Neapolitan power plants. The midfield is the key: precise, fast, tight, physical. Savic, Luis Alberto and Vecino they are the key to this victory together with Romagnoli who dictates every single movement of the rearguard;
– Spalletti can’t complain much. The ones of him pay, perhaps, a physical and mental decline. Tactically he is probably surprised by this Sarri. Fourth he tries constantly but his pops Osimhen does not find the space to be able to strike. Lobotka remains trapped by the Lazio cage. Zielinski, instead, he tries in every way to shake himself and light the spark, but without success. A fall which, however, does not worry the Tuscan but which, instead, returns further hunger to him for all the next finals that await them.
The article Scattered considerations post Napoli-Lazio (0-1) comes from Sportellate.it.