The favorite setup is the one with three defenders and a midfield with two attacking wingers. Will it be revolution or gradual transition?
@
malfitoto
Ten years later is a really long time. In football, then, we don’t talk about it. Walter Mazzarri finds Napoli again, a combination that made the city dream. At the time he had a team suited to positioning himself with a three-man defence, with the full-backs and two finishers free to invent behind an attacking midfielder. The squad today, however, is very different. In practice, he was the last coach to build the identity of the Azzurri around this formation, which oscillated between 3-4-2-1 and 3-5-2. All those who have succeeded one another on the bench have always opted for the defensive line of four and two attacking wingers to support one or two strikers. In particular, De Laurentiis’ favorite formation is the 4-3-3, to the point of choosing the coach last summer on the basis of tactical continuity.
choices
—
The first days, therefore, will be of total reflection. Not being able to count on the best half of the group, busy with the national teams, Mazzarri will have to reflect whether to immediately embark on a new path or try to insert his ideas into continuity. The 4-3-3 that he could propose would certainly not be different in the men, after all the starters were also identified by Rudi Garcia without too much effort. Instead, it is more tempting to design Napoli with a different set-up. The hypothetical three-man defense would be made up of Ostigard, Rrahmani and Natan. Di Lorenzo would certainly be the winger on the right, while Olivera could find space on the left; in the center Anguissa and Lobotka. For the attacking trident, Osimhen is immovable. At that point the coach can study two solutions: two playmakers like Zielinski and Raspadori or two wingers with Kvaratkshelia and Politano.
spark
—
Many playing principles of that Napoli could become current again, such as a pressure that does not start in the initial construction phase to punish on the restart, also having skilled players like the Nigerian in wide spaces. Mazzarri had previously carefully practiced the search for superiority in the area of the ball to facilitate transitions. Rhythm and intensity were fundamental to play that type of game, probably replicable only if there was the guarantee of a conscious and wise application in the defensive phase. This is an aspect on which the coach may have to work more than expected. But it would be enough for him to rekindle that spark to ignite the players first. And in this, in Naples, few have been able to do it like him.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED