We start again from a 4-3-3 with a lower defense, without Kim. Then, over time, we will also try the 3-4-3
Understand me, I haven’t slept for two nights. It might seem like a joke, the one that Walter Mazzarri left there, in mid-air, parading among the reporters. But no, that’s exactly how it is. Between Monday and Tuesday he waited for a signal, rewinding the tape of his experiences and preparing the words he wanted to say. A useless effort, because then he – in front of De Laurentiis – all he had to do was be himself. The module? Money? The duration of the contract? That’s not the point. Trust me, President: I am excited and convinced that I can convey to this group – which I admire – my own desire for revenge. After the handshake, the signature and a light dinner – because at this moment only his hunger for football counts – he remained to talk for a long time with his collaborators, to open up – truly in the middle of the night – to those who considered him , from the first hour and without denying him in moments of difficulty, an authentic football professional. Because, and this is indisputable, there are certainly more prominent coaches, but he – as a scholar and serious person – has never stopped asking himself two things: how and where to improve.
The groove
—
And so Walter Mazzarri, instead of sleeping, asked himself a thousand questions. And at Marzullo he even tried to answer himself. To understand how and where – since we are always there? – we need to intervene. To bring Napoli back simply Napoli. Yes, because Mazzarri – who is not lacking in self-esteem – does not have the presumption to imagine a more beautiful, more efficient Naples than the one built by Spalletti. And without needing De Laurentiis to suggest it to him, he was convinced that we had to start again from there. Putting the magic formulas on standby. Because in his head, at the first point of the program, there are always the motivations. Mazzarri is perfectly aware – as a top-level coach – that to relaunch Napoli there is not a suggestion to follow, but an Idea to put back into circulation. It happens to every team, after a triumph, to lose something: not a match, but the anger, the motivation, the fire, which devours you inside and at the same time allows you to be the best. I – this is what he must have said to the players, after greeting them one by one – I am here to try to help you. But you have to prove to all those who don’t recognize you, and certainly not to me, that you are the best. The Champions.
the defence
—
Then – continuing to venture into Mazzarri’s head – you will see that certain discussions will soon end. In fact, we start again – without ifs or buts – from Spalletti’s 4-3-3. Of course, because it thrilled De Laurentiis and the whole of Italy. But also because every coach repeats a refrain: the module must be adapted to the characteristics of the players. And the players, for an entire year, demonstrated – with deeds and not with words – that they know how to navigate those waters. Of course, there is a difference and Mazzarri is too experienced to underestimate it: the departure of someone like Kim, so good, strong in recoveries, that he even accepts one-on-one situations in an open field. Without him it is possible that the team will be asked not to raise the defensive line too much, consequently accentuating vertical football. For the rest, we were saying, he goes with the Pallettian 4-3-3, imagining – if anything there will be time – to tack a few times while running.
the system
—
In 3-5-2? In the 3-4-1-2? In the 3-4-2-1? Absolutely not. The only variant, but it is not strictly topical, is – with Di Lorenzo a little further forward – the 3-4-3. Because Kvara – rather than the bench or substitutions – is evidently the technical leader for Mazzari, and – as would happen with different modules – should not be triggered in the middle of the pitch, as a second striker, sub striker or attacking midfielder. Kvara needs to start on the wing, where he has a reference, with the freedom to choose how to open the defenses. To allow Osimhen – the strongest center forward in Serie A also for Mazzarri – to come towards him, to widen, or – as some summarize in jargon – to eat up the penalty area. In short, it is from the certainties acquired in two seasons that Napoli will intelligently restart. From the construction from the bottom, from a 2-3-2-3 with the full-backs (so to speak) rising to the sides of Lobotka in the second line, and from Zielinski in the center of the canvas. Because, and Mazzarri would also tell you that this is the case, numbers certainly have great importance. But then it is always the player who determines. Because, behind a painting that makes you dream, there is certainly the choice of colors. But above all – and Napoli has many in the team to celebrate – the genius of the painter.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED