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Recruits dug up treasures, strong managers combined strong formations, and the reconstituted Napoli rode the dust with a 17-point advantage, and touched the 33-year-old Serie A honor with one hand. Ideally, Ossimon and Kvaratshelia could win early this weekend.
Flags with green, white and red shields flutter in the streets of the city of Naples. Many flags have the number "3" printed in black in bold – a symbol that Napoli are about to win their third league title in their history. In fact, "3" can also be replaced by "33", so many years have passed since Napoli last won the league title. People came to the stadium 33 years ago to watch the best players in the world perform; Now, 33 years later, Maradona has gone from being a protagonist on the pitch to the name of the pitch, and Napoli are playing one of the most dominant seasons in the club's history.
A new line of defense for "monsters"
A dreamy journey in Naples, kicked off with nostalgic sentimentality and questioning sounds. Last summer, the Sky Blues said goodbye to three all-time milestones: Insigne, Mertens and Coulibaly, along with the likes of Goulam, Ospina and Favian Ruiz. Despite sporting director Jontoli's positional signings, few believe that the team, which collapsed late last season, has a chance to fight for the title in the new year, let alone ride the dust.
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After several flag players left, Napoli opted for right-back Di Lorenzo as their new captain. Unlike his predecessor Insigne, Di Lorenzo is not a native of Napoli and was born in Tuscany and began his career with his hometown side Lucca. Di Lorenzo, who also played in Serie C in 2017, joined Napoli two years later and was selected for the Italian national team in the same year. Two years later, he became European champions as a regular right-back. Now, Di Lorenzo is about to lift the tricolor shield from Napoli, who have been absent for 33 years as captain.
In terms of personality, Di Lorenzo is a more suitable captain than Insigne, and the highly motivated defender improves himself every year and leads the team to improvement. Di Lorenzo represents the secret of Napoli's defensive success: full attention on the pitch, finding balance between attack and defence, constant pressure pressing, and overall synergy of the defensive line. In 2018, when Di Lorenzo made his Serie A debut at Empoli, he was 25 years old; In 2021, the same 25-year-old Jin Minya left Beijing Guoan, and no one could have imagined that he would join the best central defender array in Serie A a year later.
Kim made her debut for Napoli in August last year. A little over a month later, he received his first personal honour in Italy: Serie A's League Player of the Month of the Year. To this day, the South Korean centre-back has started almost every game against Napoli. On many occasions, Kim Minya showed a dominant-level defensive performance. In addition, he even managed to make his partner Rahmani a better defender, and during the latter's absence, the Korean's partner Juan Junior or Estigao can also guarantee the reliability of the defense. Kim melted into Napoli with surprising speed, singing "Gangnam Style" at the welcome ceremony for joining the team, and after the first training session, Spalletti heard him talking to himself in Italian on the training ground.
In the Turkish Super League, Kim earned himself the nickname "Monster", which he brought to the Apennine Peninsula. In contrast, Kvaracheria, also a new signing, has a distinctly Italian codename: for nostalgic Neapolitans, he is "Kvaradorna"; For art lovers, his name is "Kvaravaggio".
Artists and Economics
The collective explosion of left wingers in Serie A has been a major phenomenon this season, but no one can match the consistency of Kvarazhelia. Stylistically, Raphael Leon is accustomed to striding meteors, Zakani is keen to win at a fast pace in tight spaces, and Luckman likes to attack the cracks in the opponent's defense, and Kvarazhelia is different from all of them: his dribbling is a change of rhythm, a perfect connection between different movements.
Kvarachelia's progress on the pitch has a strong artistic beauty. He even has a messy hairstyle and beard that belongs to an artist, and who better to look for an avatar of Caravaggio on the pitch? Against Atalanta, Kwara scored a spectacular goal of the season: the ball switched back and forth between his inside and outside instep, and the Georgian pressed the rest button for the three defenders in front of him and the three pursuers behind him in three consecutive dribbles, and then broke through Musso's city with a blast.
Kvara lifted his second Serie A trophy of the month in February. Since the award was established in 2019-20, no player has been elected twice in a single season, but the Georgian star has been an exception to Italian football from day one. The great success of Kim Minya and Kvaráchelia's debut season also satisfied Napoli sporting director Giotoli. At present, he has one year left on his contract with the Sky Blues and has entered Juventus' sights.
Gontoli's clever hand allowed Napoli to achieve a double harvest on both athletic and economic levels. Last summer, the club sold the 31-year-old Senegalese centre-back to Chelsea for €38 million, before offering 25-year-old Kim Min-ya for $18 million. Today, the Koreans have completely taken over the mantle of their predecessors, and the Sky Blue Legion has received a difference of 20 million yuan while completing the change of the defensive line. That's all? Koulibaly had received an in-team salary of €6 million after tax, and he was in a similar position to Insigne, Mertens and Manolas – who had been in Serie A for years and could not benefit from the new tax law, which would mean a heavy expense for the club.
Compared with Koulibaly, Jin Minya, who earns only 2.5 million yuan a year after tax, is quite valuable. Kvaráchelia's situation is even more exaggerated, even if the prize money is included, his Serie A first-year income will not exceed 1.5 million euros, which naturally does not match his contribution and quality. According to the statistics of Italy's "Football Finance Network", the total pre-tax salary of Napoli's first-team players in the 2022-23 season is only 69.72 million euros, which is a full 30% lower than the club's 100 million in the previous season, less than half of Juventus, and also lower than Inter Milan, Roma and AC Milan.
The elves held up the iron triangle
The clarity of the business strategy and the great success in the transfer market are just some of Napoli's recipe for success. The 64-year-old Spalletti, who has led four different teams and qualified for the Champions League nine times, is still chasing his first Serie A title. By the end of the season, Spalletti will be equalling "Little Zhuge" Guidolin to become the top five managers in Serie A history with 557 games, ahead of only Mazzone, Rocco, Trapatoni and Lidholm – it's time to shake off the "winner loser" label.
In his second year with the team, Spalletti became more and more proficient in his 433 system. Lobotka, who was reduced to the last substitute in the Gattuso era and was close to leaving, has become Serie A's best midfield commander. At 1.70 metres tall, Lobotka has the flexibility characteristic of a diminutive midfielder, but what really makes him a top player is his excellent anticipation and amazing speed of thinking. In the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Eintracht Frankfurt, Lobotka crossed the ball from the outside of the flint to find the unguarded Politano, whose cross assisted Ossimon's header into the net.
For all of Napoli's opponents, Lobotka is a point of focus. However, this is also part of the Serie A bellwether tactic: the Slovaks attract a lot of presses and make a lot of passes under high pressure to let the rest of the field shine. Instead of retiring to the backline, Lobotka can do this from the low post of an inverted triangle midfielder – which requires excellent technical support. In the 2013-14 season, Lobotka, who was still playing in his home league, spent a year on loan at Ajax Juniors, although he was not bought out by the Dutchman at the end of the season, an experience that clearly had a fundamental impact on Lobotka's style of play.
Lobotka's technical ability and tactical position allow Angisa to play the role of an all-round midfielder, while Jelinski sits between central midfielder and striker, bridging Mario Rui and Kvaratshelia's attack on the left. Almost all of the Napoli players have gotten better under Spalletti, and of course we can't forget Elmas: the North Macedonian is a reliable substitute for Kvaria, can play in rotation with Jelinski, and can also play the role of right winger: it was in Napoli's 5-1 victory over Juve in January, where Elmas cut inside to seal the victory. If international football sets up the "Best 12th Man" award, North Macedonians are definitely eligible to run.
The front bully soared into the sky
A four-man defense with both attack and defense, a complementary "iron triangle" in midfield, Kwara's endless inspiration, and role players taking turns to stand up - this Napoli team has eighteen weapons, the sharpest of which has bright blonde hair and black face protection. In February this year, a cake shop in Napoli launched the "Ossimon Cake" in the image of the team's center. In a short period of time, 1,500 cakes were sold, and the workload was so great that the cake shop had to take the initiative to close this "new business". In addition, you can also find Ossimen-themed pizzas, cappuccinos and Easter chocolate eggs in the city's different shops.
In a recent interview, Ossimon was vague about his future, but Napoli can still enjoy his talent until at least until the summer. Today's Ossimon can score in any way: a small burst against Roma, a surprise blow against Sassuolo, a header that beats Juve... In the match against Spezia, he scored with a header and reached a starting height of 2.58 meters!
In the Champions League 1/8 final, Ossimon opened the scoring away from Eintracht Frankfurt in the first leg, and returned home to score twice, completely killing the suspense of promotion. He has scored 23 goals for the team in both the league and the Champions League – and in an era when centre-forwards were scarce, Ossimon has one of the best heading skills in football today. Coming to Napoli's third season, Ossimon has finally grown into a well-rounded, stable and efficient top player, and as Immobile gets older, Vlahovic has not yet found a feel at Juve, Lautaro has had serious ups and downs, and Ossimon is the undoubted number one center in Serie A.
Soaring high Ossimon into the sky, where is the limit of this Naples? With a 17-point lead after 31 rounds, there is no suspense in which the league champion belongs. Five years ago, Koulibaly's header at Juventus gave Sarri's side hope of winning the title, while Spalletti was still Inter Milan manager. Spalletti had a chance to help Napoli, but led the team to a disastrous comeback by Juve in the national derby, and Napoli suffered away from Fiorentina and everything was in vain. Five years later, the regrets will be made up for and the wait will soon become a reality, and Spalletti will have to fulfill Sarri's unfinished dream of completing the task he screwed up: bringing the trophy to Napoli.
Author: Shen Tianhao (from Italy)
This article was originally published in Football Weekly Issue 863
Release date: 2023.3.25
Some of the content has changed
The image comes from the Internet
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