Yet another long week. The defeat at San Siro against Milan reopened wounds that had evidently not healed at Napoli. Aurelio De Laurentiis is not at all satisfied with the progress of the Azzurri (and how could he?) and after taking responsibility for the situation he is also taking stock of the “corrections” that he attempted to make during the work and which are not giving the answers everyone was waiting for. Walter Mazzarri remains in the saddle, let’s clarify that immediately. But the owner expects a sudden change of pace. From everybody. It is inevitable that the next two matches at the Maradona against Genoa (in the championship) and against Barcelona in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 will be important crossroads.
INSIGHTS
After all, the league table is crying, the Champions League zone is increasingly distant and the Azzurri find themselves occupying an anonymous ninth place which mortifies the scudetto they carry on their chest and which they had earned only a few months ago, dictating the law on pitches all over Italy. (including Europe). All finished. Everything melted like snow in the sun or like tears in the rain to put it like Blade Runner. The owner of Napoli watched the match against the Rossoneri from the seats of the Meazza on Sunday evening in the company of his son Edoardo: not far from them was also the Italy coach Spalletti (ADL’s great regret was letting him go after the scudetto ). It’s easy to imagine that the president didn’t like receiving yet another knockout (the eighth in the championship, the fifth under Mazzarri’s management) which seriously jeopardizes qualification for the 4th and last place useful for the Europe that counts.
But what they liked even less was probably the defeatist attitude of the first half at San Siro, also the result of the tactical deployment that DeLa was trying against his will to digest, sacrificing it on the altar of results. There is more. Certainly seeing the bulk of the investments made (even in January) on the bench has left more than a few doubts. De Laurentiis now expects answers from the field and expects to see his latest signings on the pitch. Especially the ones made in January. It matters little if the sacrificed person was Zielinski. The Pole has his bags packed and will be an Inter player from July. Piotr, whose contract expires, seems to have already undergone medical checks in recent days with the Nerazzurri club: a three-year contract is ready for him (with the option for a fourth year) worth around 4 million per season. That’s it. Returning to Mazzarri’s choices, DeLa also listened to his advisors, reflected and then decided to go with him.
The Mazzarri treatment so far has not brought about the turning point that was expected after Garcia’s dismissal. The numbers certainly don’t smile on the new course. Mazzarri may have had to deal with absences, injuries, defections and a rather difficult calendar, but he was also unable to change the inertia of a season that was taking a bad turn and which today seems to have been channeled into a dangerous dead-end tunnel. Looking at the statistics, in fact, the team has had a further decline compared to the past. In terms of results of course, also because we have seen little of the game anyway. There is more. In the latest appearances Napoli has appeared confused, fragile, at times disconnected between departments. It is difficult to establish whether it is the result of the many tactical changes made by the coach from the beginning of the match or during the course of the match. The fact is that the team did not respond as expected and as hoped. The data relating to the attack which has not scored away from home since the last away blitz dated 25 November at Atalanta is eloquent to say the least. And the justification for the absence of a big shot like Osimhen certainly cannot be enough.
All things considered, therefore, the previous technical guide had done better (or less worse) than the current one. With Garcia on the bench, Napoli have won 21 points of the 35 currently scored in 12 league games (average of 1.75 per game), always or almost always remaining in the Champions League zone. The home defeat suffered by Empoli was fatal to the French coach and above all a certain rift with the group which had emerged in the many grumbles/reactions revealed by the leaders on more than one occasion. Mazzarri showed up with the blitz in Bergamo that had deceived everyone a bit. Since then, however, Napoli have lost their way to goals away from home, they have changed their skin too often and have collected a paltry 14 points in 11 matches, with an average of 1.27 per game. A change of direction is required. He urgently needs to put his foot on the accelerator.