Walter Mazzarri trusts Napoli will shine under Carlo Ancelotti, but prepares several options for Simone Zaza’s first Torino start.
It kicks off at 11.30 UK time (10.30 GMT), click here for a match preview.
“I expect our fans to be passionate, fired up and give us a hand to put in a great performance,” said the Coach in his Press conference.
Walter Mazzarri trusts Napoli will shine under Carlo Ancelotti, but prepares several options for Simone Zaza’s first Torino start.
It kicks off at 11.30 UK time (10.30 GMT), click here for a match preview.
“I expect our fans to be passionate, fired up and give us a hand to put in a great performance,” said the Coach in his Press conference.
“So far we’ve picked up fewer points than we deserved. It angers me when we play well and don’t win the game, such as against Udinese. We dominated there for 90 minutes and were very unlucky to concede a goal.
“Napoli represent an important test for us. If we can build on the second half performances against Roma and Inter, that’d be a big step forward.”
Mazzarri is still fond of his former club and Carlo Ancelotti is having teething problems making the transformation from Maurizio Sarri’s style.
“I don’t like to make comparisons. Napoli play well and Ancelotti is one of the top Coaches in the world, not to mention a lovely person. They drew 0-0 with Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League this week, but absolutely dominated that match. If they played it again, they’d win 3-0 or 4-0.
“Marek Hamsik is playing in a new role, even if it’s the one people wanted me to use him in all those years ago, as a playmaker. Napoli are still a very strong squad and we’ll see where they end up.”
Toro are without injured Iago Falque, Lorenzo De Silvestri, Lyanco and Cristian Ansaldi, so we could see Zaza partner Andrea Belotti from the start.
“I’ll be honest, Zaza isn’t in top form yet, but he is an important player who will be of great use to Torino. We tried a few different solutions in training, so you’ll see when we kick off what we’ve decided upon.
“I tested Zaza in the 3-4-3 in place of Iago, as he has good technique and can play between the lines. If he’d arrived at the start of July rather than on transfer deadline day, we could’ve already performed these experiments.”
This is an early kick-off, at 12.30pm local time, and Mazzarri has concerns.
“From food to hydration, a lot changes with this timing. We tried to train twice at this time during the week to get used to it.”
Torino squad for Napoli: Ichazo, Rosati, Sirigu; Aina, Bremer, Djidji, Izzo, Moretti, Nkoulou; Baselli, Berenguer, Lukic, Meite, Parigini, Rincon, Soriano; Belotti, Damascan, Edera, Zaza