Naples, Spalletti: “Mario Rui? A symptom of low maturity. Osimhen was angry about my calls…”

The hint is always the same: another success for Napoli, another important step towards the Scudetto, with the lead in the standings expanding to 18 points for now, waiting for Inter. The Azzurri made no mistake even on the Empoli field, where they held on for half the second half with one man down due to Mario Rui’s expulsion. “That’s a symptom of lack of maturity, which clashes a bit with what the others have done, but sometimes these episodes are part of football. It is essential that the group then unites to make up for these shortcomings. The team had a very important reaction, especially the midfielders played a really tough game with those faces of c…o real” explained Luciano Spalletti, in the interview granted to Dazn at the end of the match. In particular, several words of praise were addressed to Lobotka: “He gets excited when we have possession, it becomes difficult to steal ground from him and he hits everyone, even the biggest ones. He has a cubic physique that allows him to keep up with anyone. He is a great footballer. At Inter we tried to sign him in the past but due to fair play issues we were unable to proceed; that a smart guy like Giuntoli then noticed him confirms that he wasn’t a simple intuition but a player who was on everyone’s lips ”.

Bad memories

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For a while the fact that there were only ten men brought to mind the comeback suffered last season at Castellani. But Napoli didn’t let their opponents surprise them, managing the offensives in the best possible way: “If players like Elmas play with intensity and willingness when they come in, covering all these kilometers, we manage not to suffer from numerical inferiority. The risk was being below their level of fighting, because for Empoli the games end in the hundredth minute, they always play at the same pace. Putting quality into it as always adding sacrifice meant that a similar race came out. I have to congratulate the boys, who put in a performance that is a lot of stuff”.

Leader

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Also on this success is the signing of Victor Osimhen, increasingly top scorer in the league. “As soon as he returned to the locker room he was a little angry because I had called him back several times, but then he told his teammates not to forget last year’s game. They are attitudes of correct mentality, of the search for the collective result, of the desire to fight together with the comrades. He arrived a little tired on some balls because he spent so much throughout the match,” Spalletti said. Despite the umpteenth success, the coach has, as usual, invited us not to let our guard down. “Those who face us know they have to put in something extra, so it becomes a prize to achieve results and everyone stakes their lives against us. Opponents like this are always very stimulated and it’s a sign of a team that knows how to interpret moments and what the spirit should be. Everyone wonders if the egg is better today or the chicken tomorrow, I say the egg is better today: the chicken can wait ”, he concluded.