A year ago, Luciano Spalletti’s Napoli dominated all debates in Serie A. During the long international Christmas break for the World Cup in Qatar, the Campania club had played 15 days and was already proudly at the top of the table. ranking while still being undefeated. Victor Osimhen was in great form, scoring goals against all the Italian defenses, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia grabbed the global spotlight for his surprising first part of the season, while Kim Min-jae took on the role of the impassable defensive rock. And a few months later, it was logical that Napoli lifted the Scudetto after a campaign of domination. All the Neapolitan streets were partying to celebrate this historic championship title, the third in the club’s history. The fans of the Campania club had to wait 33 years before seeing their favorite team at the top of Italy again. This southern city, glorious and proud, was finally at the center of all attention after years of domination by northern clubs, from Turin to Milan. This trophy went beyond the sporting framework and the dream only seemed to be beginning, while the management of the Partenopei had achieved the feat of retaining, during the last summer transfer window, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Victor Osimhen, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Piotr Zieliński and even Stanislav Lobotka. But two strong men left the ship during the holidays: coach Luciano Spalletti and rearguard leader Kim Min-jae.
After the departure of Luciano Spalletti, the Neapolitan management, led by its legendary and folkloric president Aurelio De Laurentiis, had to start looking for a new conductor to take over the helm of the Partneopei, freshly crowned with a Scudetto historic after 33 long years of waiting. But the more the summer months passed, the more the first doubts began to emerge in Naples because the 74-year-old Italian businessman continued interviews at the restaurant without ever making his new coach official, at a time when Kim Min’s replacement jae, who left for Bayern, in central defense was also waiting and sports director Cristiano Giuntoli left the ship for the offices of Juventus. Finally, despite rumors involving around ten different coaches, it was Rudi Garcia who was chosen to take over from Luciano Spalletti. Unfortunately, this was only the beginning of the nightmare: the French coach was sacked from his position as coach of Napoli, only five months after his arrival with great fanfare in the wings of the Diego Armando Maradona stadium. A surprising marriage which therefore ended in a more expected divorce than ever on November 14. Once again, like a few months earlier, Aurelio De Laurentiis started looking for a new coach. If Antonio Conte then Igor Tudor were approached, it was Walter Mazzarri who, to everyone’s surprise, was chosen to save a drifting ship.
De Laurentiis pointed out with virulence!
“I apologize to the supporters, they also gave us a helping hand today and they don’t deserve a team in such disarray. I hope this will serve as a lesson for the future. We need to change our tone…”. It is with these words that Walter Mazzarri wanted to return to the incredible elimination suffered by his team on Tuesday evening. Indeed, in the round of 16 of the Coppa Italia, Napoli hosted the promoted club Frosinone at home. If the Leoni represent a nice surprise this season, they remain a team within reach of the Neapolitans. However, Mazzarri’s players were slapped (0-4) and are leaving through the back door. Knocked out but not yet KO, the group returned to the turbine to prepare a great championship poster against AS Roma, this Sunday evening on the Olimpico pitch. In an electric context, the Partenopei fell against the Giallorossi (2-0), while finishing the match nine against eleven due to the expulsions of Matteo Politano and Victor Osimhen for gestures of humor: “the problem is much deeper, there is a real break between the players and the club. There is no more fun playing, the physical condition is terrible. I never saw that. We see that the players are behind coach Mazzarri. There is no tension, he has successfully come to calm Osimhen. The players are behind the coach but there is a real physical and psychological problem in the group. We are expecting a truly worthy winter transfer window. We are very impatient, we are also a little nervous, we are very worried about the state of the team. If there are no reinforcements, we won’t even go to the Europa League.”explains Massimiliano, the CM of the Napoli France account.
Since the arrival of Walter Mazzarri, Napoli is still not at its best with five big defeats in all competitions, including three in Serie A against Inter Milan (0-3), Juventus (1-0) and AS Roma (2-0). At the Christmas break, the Neapolitans are in 7th position, six points off the podium: “The situation has changed a little because for once the Neapolitan public realizes that the one and only responsible is not Garcia, who is mainly responsible for the physical and mental state of the team. Mazzarri didn’t bring much but people are aware that he couldn’t bring much. The real culprit who is being singled out is De Laurentiis, this is the first time. There is a real wait around De Laurentiis to see if he will be able to turn things around. This is total incompetence, in terms of player management and choice of coaches. Everything was done badly, we thought it was Garcia who took advantage of the situation but it was De Laurentiis who did anything. It’s all the president’s fault. He gets involved in everything to get all the credits. He made all the decisions and things are going very, very badly. Before he could say that they were losers but now the players are champions. If there is a problem, it comes from your side”, confirms Massimiliano, who was present in Naples this Saturday evening to speak with the fans there. Between the almost official departure of Eljif Elmas, the draw for the 8th of the Champions League, the elimination in the Coppa, the media outings of Aurelio De Laurentiis but also the announcement of the extension of Victor Osimhen, the week has not been easy in Naples… The holidays are likely to do a little good, before a crucial winter transfer window for the Campania club.
