After having battled
their way to a second place finish last year, changes seemed almost inevitable
at Napoli. The sale of Cavani was a blow, but the money has been invested wisely,
meaning Napoli have a deep squad with a very real chance of winning Serie A.
Cavani was Mr. Napoli for
all three of his seasons at the club, although his fee rising to just €17
million. However, the Uruguayan’s blistering pace, energy, and unique yet
accurate finishing made him the talk of European football at times. Napoli’s
impressive 2011/12 champions league campaign gave foreign clubs their best
glimpse yet of what Cavani could do, with help from Ezequiel Lavezzi, Juan
Zuniga, Marek Hamsik, Goran Pandev and others. Champions league football did
not return to Naples for the 2012/13 season, as they finished fifth in Serie A,
and despite winning the Coppa Italia, rumours began to circulate over the future
of the club’s key players.
Having already
suffered deep financial turmoil and troubles in previous years, Napoli’s owners
knew they could not be reckless or overly ambitious, forcing the club to make
tough decisions. Lavezzi left for PSG in the summer of 2012, and many expected Cavani
to leave then. However, he remained, and proved once more that he was one of the
World’s very finest strikers. Cavani’s thoroughly destructive performance against
FC Dnipro of the Ukraine in the Europa league in which he scored all four goals
in a 4-2 victory was essentially a one match highlight reel of the electrifying
Uruguayan. Cavani finished the season with a staggering 38 goals in 43 matches
in all competitions, making a move seem almost certain.
Yet again, it was PSG
who bought one of Napoli’s stars, with the fee being around €64 million, almost
four times the fee spent on Cavani in the first place. Many have begun questioning
Napoli’s potential in the Champions league and Serie A without their talisman,
but the signings made, as well as the arrival of Rafael Benitez means Napoli could
change from being a tricky team to beat with a few in demand players to being a
genuine and consistent, European powerhouse.
Napoli’s most notable
coup this summer has been Gonzalo Higuain, the Argentine who spent six years at
the mighty Real Madrid, but never really reached the heights of certain
previous Madrid strikers. Still, the length of Higuain’s stint at Los Meringues
and his goal record 122 goals in 246 games proves that he is a world class
signing, and could well be one of Serie A’s elite strikers. Just like they did
when Cavani was scoring goals for fun, Napoli have plenty of creativity in
their squad, with Hamsik, Insigne, and another man signed from Madrid this
summer, the technically gifted Jose Callejón, who never quite got enough games
for Madrid to really impress. He will be hungry to show why he was touted as a
future star in his younger days.
Napoli have a
fantastic mix of experience, youth and players at their supposed peak age of
mid 20s, as exemplified by their array of defenders. Speaking of experience, Spanish
goalkeeper Pepe Reina has joined on loan from Liverpool, and despite being
prone to the odd error or erratic move, he is a top quality shot stopper, and
his presence around the dressing room will make the Napoli squad even more
United, as Reina will be reunited with former manager Rafael Benitez. Reina, Maggio,
Cannavaro, another ex-Madrid man Raul Albiol and Juan Zuniga makes for a very strong
and idyllic back line, suitable for both Italian and European competition.
The addition of tricky
Belgian winger Dries Mertens from PSV Eindhoven gives Napoli yet more width and
creativity, giving an insight into how Benitez will want his team to set up,
with either width, central creativity, or both. Rafael Benitez has long been an
advocate of the lone striker, as shown by his use of Samuel Et’to at Inter, Fernando
Torres at both Chelsea and Liverpool, Djibril Cisse at Liverpool, and a fair
few others. It seems unfair to leave out any of Hamsik, Insigne, Callejón, Pandev
and Mertens, but at least two of them will probably find themselves on the
bench, for the key games at least.
I expect Napoli to
utilise either a 4-5-1 or a 4-2-3-1 formation for the most part this season. Rafael
Benitez has used both of these formations in the past, and both of them allow for
the creative prowess of Hamsik, Callejón and the others to be the ace in Napoli’s
metaphorical pack of cards. With the 4-5-1 or maybe 4-4-1-1 option, I expect to
see Mertens in the team alongside Callejón in “the hole” behind Gonzalo Higuain, with Hamsik,
Insigne or Pandev taking the final place. However, with Juan Zuniga, one of the
most attacking left backs in the game, being likely to be selected regularly, Benitez
may decide against another attacking wide man on the left. If the 4-2-3-1 is
used, the intelligent Behrami and the energetic Inler will have to hold in
central midfield even more, while Hamsik, Callejón and likely Insigne attack.
Whichever formation
Benitez uses, he has the almost ideal squad to tinker with. The amount of both
central and wide creativity means injuries shouldn’t affect the team’s ability
to cause defensive problems for their opponents. The illustrious and
experienced defensive line given earlier could make Napoli one of the steeliest
defences in Europe, as Benitez often does. The potential of this team is unquestionably
high with hungry, determined players galore, ready to unleash themselves on
both Serie A and Europe, with Juventus’ crown being the aim for the ever
passionate Napoli fans.