Naples: Osimhen, Politano and the gestures to Garcia as a sign of discomfort

Let’s start with the facts. That is, from the clear and irrefutable gestures seen on the pitch and which no one can deny. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia began to look like an angel and, having been replaced at the end at Marassi in a Genoa-Napoli match that finished 2-2, despite not speaking Italian well, pronounced with a very clear lip: “But what have you done?”. It was September 16th, the Azzurri had already had the first creaks in the match lost at home against Maurizio Sarri’s Lazio, and Kvara’s was the first sign of discomfort.

Which was followed in Bologna eight days later, on 24 September, by Victor Osimhen. Even in that case at 0-0, with a game in theory to win, Garcia removed first Kvara and then Osimhen who arrived in front of the coach explaining himself clearly: but if we have to win, leave me on the pitch with another striker close by, so we are two of us and we can get to the goal more easily. And that two was waved with the fingers, not to threaten the coach but to vent frustration. Garcia accepted and did not “demand” an apology from the center forward for whom it was an act of love for the team, not insubordination. Then on Sunday evening here was another gesture of disappointment from a substitute, Matteo Politano. And the trident is completed.

malaise

—

This isn’t a problem of essay commissions or people playing against the coach. But to be a team, to form a group, you need an understanding of common objectives, which does not necessarily mean being friends or all getting along. What is real is a sense of unease that the team feels. A sense of frustration that Garcia himself spoke about on Sunday night – after receiving boos from the central stand -, but without coming to terms with it. The victories against Udinese and Lecce had given the illusion that the problems had been solved. The defeat against Real Madrid was considered inevitable, given the strength of the opponent. But against a Fiorentina with more “legs” – despite the 48 hours less recovery from the European cups – disaster struck with eleven players wandering around the pitch mortified, experiencing angry but personal reactions, almost never team ones. And so the same protagonists of the scudetto, those who have enchanted for months by showing beautiful and possible football, are now standing there with their heads down wondering how such an involution is possible. Stanislav Lobotka is perhaps the symbol of the identity crisis, in September from Slovakia he said: “Garcia asks us for new things and we have to adapt”. From a Guardiolian director in terms of pace and tactical intelligence, today Lobo, the wolf, seems more like a lamb that always runs backwards to plug gaps.

self-esteem

—

It’s clear that if a year ago you only lost twice at home in the entire season, and this time you’re already three times up and it’s only October, something is missing in the self-esteem of the individuals, who evidently aren’t playing against the coach but aren’t they understand their choices. And then there is the increasingly large group of those who have less space. Take Eljif Elmas, who played only 130′ in ten games, while a year ago he played 254′, not to mention Mario Rui, only two games as a starter and the harsh intervention of his agent, Mario Giuffredi, against French technician. In these cases it should be the club that puts everyone in their place and defends the coach’s prerogative on choices. This did not happen and even from these details we can understand what kind of atmosphere there is in Naples. And the black shirt with the “capuzzelle” halfway between Neapolitan tradition and Halloween makes for a good atmosphere.