Napoli, which has won ten consecutive matches in football’s Serie A, has been one of the top teams in the series since the beginning of the 2010s. However, the club’s most recent championship is from the 1989–1990 season. An undefeated start to the season has raised expectations for success in the football-crazy city.
Leading the Italian league with eight points and scoring 34 goals in 14 matches Luciano Spalletti the crew has charmed with their versatile game. Of all the teams in Europe’s top 5 leagues, only Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain have scored a higher goals per game average than Napoli.
– Spalletti has succeeded masterfully in two matters in particular. The team’s style of play suits the players really well, and he has successfully distributed responsibilities to different players, a journalist and coach who has followed Italian football closely for decades Mitri Pakkanen analyzes for Urheilu.
The city lives and breathes football
Serie A clubs are really meaningful to the locals in Italy, which breathes football.
– According to my own experience, the success of a Serie A club is always important for the environment, but Napoli is certainly at the top in this sense. The city of Naples lives and breathes football with the club, Pakkanen opens with his years of experience in Italy.
A late gamer icon Diego Maradona an era at the club in the 1980s revolutionized Neapolitan football. The team won their first, and so far only, Serie A championship and won the Uefa Cup in 1989. The symbol of success was the legendary Maradona.
– Especially the older supporters of the club still remember Maradona’s time. The era was a kind of starting point for the fact that top success is possible for Napoli, Pakkanen times.
The team has brought out the best side of its demanding and passionate supporters, as the game has progressed and entertained in an exceptional way in the early season. Nowadays, in their home stadium named after Maradona, the team has experienced only one loss of points in all competitions this season. The group played a 1–1 draw with Lecce in August.
The nine home wins include, among other things, an ecstatic 4–1 win over Liverpool in the Champions League.
– In a good sense, the stadium is a home cave, a hot-blooded pressure cooker. The support of the passionate home crowd is huge when the game goes on. For the opponents, it is certainly Italy’s most difficult away pitches, Pakkanen describes.
The summer acquisition has shone as the brightest star in Spalletti’s group Khvitsha Kvaratskhelia. For the Neapolitans, the Georgian is a blur from the years of great success in the 1980s.
Kvaratskhelia, who exploded into the fans’ favorite, has played himself from almost complete obscurity to one of the best soccer players in Serie A in the entire early season. Fans who are ecstatic about the Georgian have named the magician “Kvaradona”. Maradona is not forgotten in the city, and now the people of Naples have seen something similar.
The departure of the key players was only a boost for the better
Among the core players of recent years, the team lost a club legend in the summer, among others Lorenzo Insignethe club’s all-time top scorer by Dries Mertens and the head of defense Kalidou Koulibaly. This has not weakened the team, as the replacements have filled their places.
– Kim Min-Jae has been a really successful purchase. Koulibaly is more impressive on the ball, but he made mistakes in defense that Kimi has not made, Pakkanen opens.
Under the leadership of the South Korean, Napoli has conceded only 16 goals in 20 matches.
The Georgian sensation Kvaratskhelia was an amazing discovery from the sports management of Napoli. According to various sources, the acquisition bought for around 10 million euros has scored eight goals and assisted 10 in his 17 matches.
– Kvaratskhelia has been one of the brightest players in the entire series. He has great running power and creates a threat both with his carries and off-the-ball movements. The threat of scoring is constant, Pakkanen evaluates the skillful shooter and passer with both feet.
Kvaratskhelia previously had a career in the Russian Rubin Kazan, but after Russia invaded Ukraine, he returned to his home country’s league last spring. From there, the trip continued to Naples in the summer.
Club boss known as a flamboyant and opinionated person Aurelio De Laurentiis and the rest of the management also collects praise from Pakkase. The management of the movie mogul, who saved the club from bankruptcy in the early 2000s, has been sensible.
– Napoli has been very successful in player acquisitions in recent years. The team has been strengthened sensibly and money has not just been wasted, Pakkanen says.
The championship train is on track before the World Championships
The long absences of star players can also torment Napoli in the mixed season of the World Cup. In the early season, for example, a power forward Victor Oshimhenia loan players have been very lucky Giovanni Simeone mixed Giacomo Raspadori.
– We have a lineup full of important players. When you travel around the world and play so many games, you can’t do it at this level if you don’t have 20-22 players you can rely on, Spalletti opened up about his thoughts after last weekend’s win over Atalanta.
According to the statistics, Napoli, which dominates games with ball control, has taken the most ball possessions in the offensive end in the entire series. Among others, the one who gave the most key passes has excelled in the way of the game Piotr Zielinskiruling the left flank together with Kvaratskhelia Mario Rui and a midfield powerhouse In Frank Angui.
One more round is played in Serie A before the World Cup break. Napoli, who beat Empoli on Tuesday, will face Udinese at home on Saturday.
– The quality of playing, combined with the current point difference, makes Napoli currently the strongest favorite for the championship, Pakkanen says.
Napoli was already close to the championship as a coach By Maurizio Sarri during the 2017-2018 season. The team declined in the spring and lost crucial points.
Sarri was accused of minimal rotation of the players in relation to the consuming way of playing. Spalletti seems to be better than his compatriot here.
– There have been several successes in the early season, regardless of who has been on the field, Pakkanen praises the rotation of Spalletti’s group.
Spalletti has previously been criticized in Italy for the man’s ability to face difficulties. The focus may have gone to irrelevancies.
There have been no difficulties in the early season. When they come, we are living decisive moments for Napoli. Under the leadership of “Kvaradona”, the team has the opportunity to fulfill the fans’ decades-long wait.