Spalletti, farewell to Naples: he will be out for a year

Not even a potential king could get them to agree in the midfield circle. Because an hour before the match, when the Maradona was not yet full and the rain became more insistent, Aurelio De Laurentiis and Luciano Spalletti found themselves close to receive a gold medal of merit from Prince Charles of Bourbon. The technician tried to close the mini-ceremony quickly, creating some problems even for the taking of the souvenir photo.

Concentration on the match, first of all, but also no desire to be next to the person who definitively distances him from Naples and from Naples. A city that he loves deeply even if he has often lived like a monk in recent months, inside the Castel Volturno sports center, not really a place full of comforts. Spalletti said enough and waited for the president to announce it, to find a way to shake hands and leave without consequences. But judging by the latest barbs from a distance, at the moment the separation does not appear consensual.

wings and boots

—

On Friday De Laurentiis had underlined that he did not want to “clip anyone’s wings”. Spalletti replied that he didn’t know what he was talking about “all I need is a pair of boots”. As if to say: if you think you want to block me for the contract, I’m going to be a farmer on my estate. Not that Spalletti doesn’t want to stay on the field and work (“I’m ready to start anew”) but if these are the conditions, he accepts them and leaves just to have freedom of choice.

consequences of love

—

It is the title of one of Paolo Sorrentino’s first and very successful films. And the consequences of Spalletti’s love for Naples are what convinced the coach to say stop. To believe that he cannot continue in this situation, not knowing if he was able to give his best for this city, these colours. And so, before economic or opportunistic calculations, here is the decision pondered over for a long time, but in the end taken with the instinct of someone who wants to decide their life without being too influenced by events.

unsustainable

—

The relationship between the two main protagonists, president and coach, has become untenable. Misunderstandings and differences between two strong characters, who managed to coexist and win a fabulous Scudetto together. An indelible result for modern and spectacular football shaped by the coach with a new team. A group that at the beginning of the season was not included among the favorites and that would have had to fight to snatch a place in the Champions League: a fate that has turned on its opponents. Already in April of a year ago, relations between De Laurentiis and Spalletti were very tense. Not only because the president teased Luciano who answered him in kind, but above all because the number one of Napoli had also contacted the technicians even convinced that he could change leadership in the running after the defeat in Empoli, in order not to jeopardize the qualification in Champions, essential to carry on the summer revolution. Then the team won all the games, the differences – already deep – were put aside, without ever a clarification. This left the fire smoldering under the ashes, which exploded this spring just as the team reached a great historic milestone, after 33 years of abstinence.

you will see that…

—

Those who collected the outbursts and anger of the protagonists, however, remained convinced that in the end the two would be able to find a square. If they’ve won a Scudetto by arguing, you’ll see that they’ll find an agreement in the end. Instead nothing. De Laurentiis thought that the option move to lock down the coach was a way to show him esteem and the desire to continue together. The other, on the other hand, experienced it as yet another abuse, a way to keep him there like any other employee. De Laurentiis with his technicians has come to the break several times precisely for reasons of visibility. When a technician becomes too loved and respected, maybe now is the time to change it. It happened above all with Sarri and this situation, at least from a contractual point of view – and not only – is very similar to us. Julio Velasco, a volleyball coach, but also manager of Lazio and Inter at the end of the twentieth century, has always maintained in his lectures to managers, including those of industry, that “the mistake many sports clubs make is not to consider the coach to be like a manager, without involving him in the project he has to carry out on the pitch”. Perhaps this was what was missing in the relationship between the two. However, even without great harmony, a championship has arrived. So luckily these two didn’t break up a year ago: today Naples wouldn’t be dressed in blue.