Will Napoli be the Real Deal this season or the
Real mistake.
Out with
the old and in with the new. That is a saying that is probably being heard
quite often these days in and around the SSC Napoli clubhouse. The Naples side
have parted ways with superstar striker Edinson Cavani and charismatic coach Walter Mazzarri. Since
they have brought in controversial Rafa Benitez who immediately acquired
an interesting mix of dynamic young players creating quite a buzz of
excitement around the Stadio San Paolo despite the loss of their most
prolific attacker in Napoli's rich history.
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| Something about the air in Paris makes Cavani look more presentable |
The
ambition of last year's Scudetto runner-up is apparent and the gung-ho manner
of their transfer campaign has seemed to throw off the balance in the Serie A
transfer market...but unfortunately their efforts may all be in vain.
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| Mazzarri to DeLaurentis "F*** this, I'm out!" |
Fact is
Napoli has already been on a slight decline ever since they sold Ezequiel
Lavezzi to PSG last summer and Walter Mazzarri obviously knew this. Napoli ran
out of gas in their Scudetto pursuit this past season and with Cavani set to
leave, Mazzarri jumped ship because he believes Napoli are a
sputtering ship and it will take one hell of an effort to keep it from
sinking...so Walter tucked his tail and ran to the one team that can only
go up from the position they currently are in.
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| DeLaurentis is like "no fear, Rafa is here" |
Rafa
Benitez has now flung himself into another seemingly impossible position (despite the large transfer $$$ given to him),
where expectation will be high for the southern Italian side to mount a
serious run at the Serie A title despite the fact Napoli are about to go
through a HUGE transitional season.
This fact
however has been masked by the interesting transfer campaign that has
been undertaken by Rafa. The former Liverpool boss has signed an exciting young
Belgianattacker in Dries Mertens and a host of Real Madrid
'misfits', most eyebrow raising, the reported 42Million signing of Gonzalo
Higuain.....WHAT....yes that’s right...Napoli has spent two-thirds of the
Cavani fund on a striker who, albeit one who may play with a chip on his
shoulder this season...in my opinion, has failed to really impress as a
top class striker. They were way better off with Cavani compared to him.
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| thousands of Napoli fans assaulted Gonzalo like he was the Biebs |
His goal tally
aside, Higuain was always second choice to the likes of Benzema and before him
Raul and Van Nistelrooy...and I'm sure there is a reason for that. Higuain has
those Inzaghi like abilities of being inthe right place at the right time and
being a close range clinical finisher...but he does not possess
boatloads of technical ability, does not have the power and presence that his Partenopei
predecessor Cavani had...Higuain's skill set matches many other
available Serie A strikers...one name that comes to mind is Alessandro
Matri...a player who is of not that much less quality than Higuain and one who
would probably been allowed to leave Juventus, even to arch-rivals Napoli, on
the cheap since they have now found themselves with a glut of strikers...but
instead Napoli have forked over 42mil for ONE striker and still have plenty of
holes to fill.
Their
defence remains a biq question mark with the likes of Gamberini, Paolo
Cannavaro and the newly acquired Raul Albiol hardly being able to instill fear
in the eyes of Europe's greatest attacking forces. Their midfield lacks
dynamism and creativity...and then there is the coach himself…. Benitez…no
doubt a great tactician... but one who gets very set in his ways and ruffles
the feathers of his employers...just ask Massimo Moratti. Formation changes,
style changes, personnel changes will all be on the cards for Napoli this
season. Switching from a very Italian-style 3-4-3 counterattacking system
to Rafa’s for 4-2-3-1 will be a major transition that current players will have
initial difficulty in adjusting to. And any new acquisitions will need some
time to gel.
I'm not
saying that Napoli will be a disaster this season, but talk of potential
Scudetto champions is definitely premature, if not naïve. It seems as though
management is just trying to overhype a team in transition and is rushing to
create a fresh, attractive team filled with nothing but
names. In a way Napoli kind of reminds me of a certain Toronto baseball team
who had all the hype surrounding them after somebig name offseason
acquisitions, but unfortunately was never able to put the talent and
potential together on the field.
If Napoli
fans have Scudetto dreams then they are in for a big disappointment this
season.
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| the irony of Napoli's second jersey being military fatigues, considering it's going to be a battle for them to achieve even second place this season. |
