Nobody would be happier than Aurelio De Laurentiis if Francesco Calzona righted the ship and earned his confirmation on the Napoli bench, sparing him the third coaching search in the span of a calendar year. At least the last one was swift and painless, other than for Walter Mazzarri, whom they let in limbo for a couple of days. It’ll be a lot easier to negotiate with Slovakia after Euro 2024 if need be.
Their latest hiring makes more sense than their previous ones if their goal was to try recapturing the magic of the Luciano Spalletti era. The new gaffer did work with him, even though he has deeper ties with Maurizio Sarri. If he manages to bring their style, and possibly results, to something resembling those of the two tacticians he previously assisted after months of utter confusion, it’ll be a success.
In this respect, bringing back Mazzarri was a lot more perplexing than hiring Garcia, who had displayed interesting stuff at Roma. His ideas have always been dated and defensive-oriented. It felt like the Napoli patron got so spooked after bringing in somebody he didn’t truly know beforehand and didn’t like what he saw when he learned more that he went with a person he was very familiar with, disregarding the obvious flaws and drawbacks. In addition, picking a de facto caretaker manager, so early in the season was a grave blunder as the short-term contract undermined him from the get-go.
The Past
De Laurentiis fancies himself as a trailblazer but has been that more in other fields than in football. His out-of-the-box ideas are unrealistic and never get approved, or really discussed, by the governing bodies. The biggest gamble he made at Napoli was hiring Cristiano Giuntoli and his associates from the lowly Carpi, and he grew to be an elite director.
They have taken a lot of swings on relatively unknown players, but that came more from the front office than the president. Instead, he has rarely ever messed about with his coaches. He has always gone with retreads and gaffers who had already worked in Serie A. They sometimes get attached to fancy foreign names, but they can easily be wiped off the list.
Since Napoli returned to the top flight and re-established themselves in the upper echelon, the least accomplished bosses they hired were Maurizio Sarri, who was widely acclaimed and cut his teeth for an eternity, and Gennaro Gattuso, who didn’t work out too great. After the first Mazzarri spell, Rafa Benitez, Carlo Ancelotti, Luciano Spalletti, and Garcia alternated on their bench. The owner courted Luis Enrique and Antonio Conte very insistently, and still is in the second case.
Every top Italian side would hire Roberto De Zerbi if possible, but prying away an elite gaffer from the Premier League is a very expensive affair, and the clubs often refrain from activating even small release clauses.
The Future
That would seemingly rule out an up-and-comer, and the fact that that brightest one, Thiago Motta, already took himself out of consideration because he was perhaps rubbed the wrong way during the negotiation last summer doesn’t help. On the other hand, the massive success of the Sarri era should suggest otherwise. There’s a big looming question mark about how competitive they’ll be in the coming seasons, which vastly affects this matter too.
Napoli will reinvest the bonanza deriving from the likely departure of Victor Osimhen, but their last two transfer market windows have been unconvincing. Moreover, they won’t just splurge on a center-forward who could get close to the Nigerian’s production in a short amount of time. They’ll spread the dough around, roll the dice on some talents. Given the level reached by their rivals, especially Inter, it’ll be tough to compete for the Scudetto. Conte, who’d have the bonus of joining along with a director, was very aware of this when he turned them down. It feels like they are just the last resort for him, should he fail to land an elite job. There’s a chance that’ll be the case, but they need some luck.
Trying to start a new multi-year cycle with a young-ish coach should be the way to go. History says they won’t be too extreme if they choose this route. If Motta really isn’t an option, the next man up is Raffaele Palladino, who’s from the area, which never hurts. He’s not as touted or brilliant as the Bologna skipper, but he has shown a lot considering he was elevated from the Primavera a few weeks into last season.
The Real Options for Napoli
The halfway point of the two propositions is Vincenzo Italiano, who’s still in the early stages of his career but has already accumulated significant experience also in Europe. Napoli surely like him, but they didn’t want to meddle with Fiorentina’s business, and he didn’t push his way out after Spalletti stepped down. He might have run his course for the Viola and taken a middling squad as far as possible. They’d need significant investments to bolster it and really fight for loftier objectives. Considering how quickly he leveled up in the past, he has already been there quite a while. He might fall in the Partenopei’s lap without needing to negotiate his release as recent rumors (via Tuttomercatoweb) suggest that the automatic option to renew his contract is activated by qualifying for a European competition, which isn’t a lock.
Italiano has lost some luster from the proactivity standpoint, but a dose of pragmatism doesn’t hurt. Given their past appointments and preferences, Stefano Pioli is also a very believable candidate. The buzz about him staying or leaving Milan goes back and forth each week depending on their latest result. That’s surely not the case behind the scenes, but the Rossoneri will have to tread carefully with his replacement. He’d have the character to put with De Laurentiis’ antics, his philosophy is modern enough, surely a lot more than Mazzarri and Garcia, and he would come in having already won a Scudetto.
Given the nature of the owner, the door is open for a coup de theatre. A realistic one could be Massimiliano Allegri given the previous flirtations between the two, provided Juventus move on, which they should.
 |
Follow us on Google News for more updates on Serie A and Italian football |