Napoli played great against strong teams last season
Last year was very good, for many reasons. First of all, Napoli turned out to be a team stable enough to handle the pressure created by the fans and euphoria that spreads around the club. Second of all, they showed against strongest rivals that Sao Paolo is against turning into an invincible fortress. Except for Roma the rest of Italian giants slipped on the south of Italy and we should mention the interesting fact that Napoli won all of home matches played in the evening.. The spotlights are good for them so Partenopei joke about how they would play in the Champions league if Lega Calcio allowed them to always play at night. Third of all, last summer’s campaign proved to be just the right move. Sports director Marino came back on the success scene, the man responsible for bringing Maradona again showed how his contacts in the South American market are impeccable. He dug out Ezequiel Lavezzi, the great player who was speculated to have a bad temper… Napoli got a pearl to build their future on. Another player shone, Slovak Hamsik came from Brescia for a sum not worth mentioning and in only one year became the target of all the biggest clubs in the world. Refusing to sell their main stars Napoli showed that they are not interested in average, for the first time in the last ten years they have stable finance, movie producer De Laurentiis is an ambitious patron and last season was clearly only the beginning. Napoli reserved a place in UEFA Cup through Intertoto cup but their ambitions are higher, sky-blue announce fighting for the Champions League.
No major changes
As we have said, the nucleus is the same, even the key players have extended their contracts. Marino focused on signing a forward since it is not sure in what kind of state Zalayeta will be after a serious injury. The connection with Latin America again served to its purpose, so German Denis, excellent Independiente attacker arrived and he will fit in with Lavezzi easily. Also some money was invested in potential international Cristian Maggi who has an excellent season behind in Sampdoria and he can play on various positions in the team. Scanning Napoli squad we see that they focused on buying the players who can change team's quality... Several other players have been signed like Amodio and Rianudo, but basically it is the same squad as last yea’. 3-5-2 formation experienced Reja prefers, with excellent midfield, potential star Santacroce in defense and South American man in the attack. They haven’t got alternatives for some of the players which will be their main problem, but anyway, this is a team worthy of respect. They have been playing together for few seasons now, they are only completing the team year after year; they can recognise the needs and they don't go astray in the transfer window so Napoli already seem as a stable club with clear-cut policy. After golden Maradona era, their history was full of ups and downs, mostly because of wasting money on bad transfers… But it is history now.
In
Denis (Independiente), Rinaudo (Palermo), Maggio (Sampdoria), Amodio (Mantova), Russotto (Treviso)
Out
Sosa, Cupi, Calaio, Rulo, Garics
Our tip
We are not cheering for Napoli so we can objectively make an appraisal of their chances. As we see it, they have the team for the top half; certainly they are weaker than top five but they can at least compete for top seven. The stories about the Champions League are exaggerated but they have the right to dream; if Lavezzi repeats the games from the first part of the season and the club gets reinforced they might even take a step forward. Wish list is pretty long, there are Czechs Sirl and Kadlec, Fiorentina's left winger Pasqual is mentioned, Marino is known as a man who always has a hidden card. The biggest pressure will be upon coach Reja; his post was shaking during winter due to weaker results but also because he refused president's offers to reinforce the team in January. He survived but this football traditionalist knows that he will have to be much braver away, since he can’t mark any significant results by only winning at Sao Paolo. His careful tactics away sometimes agitates the fans but Reja is stubborn in holding on to his concept. Expectations are high and any result except Europe will be a failure for Napoli
Our tip: Napoli to finish in top half
Odds 1.80
Bookmaker: Bet365
CL
CLQ
UEFA
RELEG
