Napoli armored: they have the best defense in top tournaments

Old sayings always tell great truths. John Madden, historic American football coach, gave a maxim that went around the world and which over time has been a point of reference for many sports analyses. “Offense sells tickets, but defense wins games.” And also the championships, if we want. At least it’s the historical trend of Serie A: to win, you must first of all be solid. And it is no coincidence that defensive solidity has always been a trademark of Antonio Conte’s teams. And it is from there that Napoli started again to erase the bitterness of the black year after the Scudetto. Six months of very intense work, from the first training in Trentino to Florence, which today garners applause in Italy and acclaim in Europe. In the top five championships, no team does better than Napoli, the best defense in Italy but also in Europe, tied with Simeone’s Atletico who however also have a game less. And first place also for clean sheets, i.e. matches closed with a clean sheet. Data that gives credit to the work of Conte and his staff and that tells a lot about Napoli’s primacy. Not everything, of course. But it always comes back to the starting point: if you want to win, first you have to be good at not conceding.

work culture

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Conte is not a magician, but what he was able to do in Naples smacks of sleight of hand. He transformed last season’s hole gang into the Great Wall of China, also working on the players’ heads as well as on the pitch. And Napoli returned to being a team, raising the wall in front of Meret. And by analyzing the cold numbers, other truths emerge. Napoli have conceded just 12 goals in the league, but six of these in two of the three defeats suffered: 3-0 in Verona on their debut and 0-3 in Maradona against Atalanta. This means that in the remaining 17 matches, the league leaders have conceded just 6 goals. It may not have always been spectacular, it hasn’t yet found a way to satisfy “fine palates” as Conte put it, but this team has the solidity of the greats. And now she’s feeling grown up again. Winning and suffering, because the two things that count in thought have always walked together.

the faces of rebirth

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And then there are the men behind the rebirth. True, the defensive phase is a team issue and the great secret of this Napoli lies in the constant sacrifice of the attackers. From Politano to Lukaku, also passing through Kvara and Neres: everyone knows that to find space on the pitch you have to think first about us and then about I, you need to run back with more conviction and ferocity than when aiming for the opponent’s goal. The midfielders are marathon runners dedicated to the ball (no one in Serie A covers the average kilometers per game of McTominay and Lobotka is third in the special ranking), the defenders are once again dominating the area. And then there is Meret, who has always been in the eye of the critics and has never been an indisputable added value like never before this year: the Italian goalkeeper has often gone beyond what was sufficient, accumulating so far in Serie A also five 6.5s, two 7s, one 7.5 and an 8, keeping a clean sheet on 9 occasions (out of 16 games played) and saving a penalty. In short, where the defenders don’t reach, Alex is there to put the gloves there. And what about Amir Rrahmani, back on championship levels? Amir no longer makes any mistakes, he has found serenity and confidence thanks to the arrival of Buongiorno – the man who changed the defense – and now even without him he knows how to be a leader again. Olivera is proving to be a very valuable wildcard, but the rebirth of captain Di Lorenzo is the happiest note for Napoli. More than anyone, he needed a season like this, a restart like this. He remained for Conte and thanks to Conte. And now together with him, Napoli dreams of reliving a memorable season.