Rudi Garcia insists the problems are Napoli are ‘not tactical, we are not aggressive enough’ and said there were actions in the defeat to Fiorentina that were ‘not normal’ from his players.
The Partenopei made their debut in the 2023 edition of their Halloween kit, which is black and covered in images of skulls, but they were the ones seeing ghosts at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
It was a scary start to the game, conceding within seven minutes from Josip Brekalo, then Victor Osimhen converted a penalty to equalise.
“We feel bitterness, frustration, it is an ugly result. The problem is that we made defensive errors, as well as upfront. The first goal we absolutely should’ve avoided, that is obvious,” Garcia told DAZN.
“We went into the break on level terms with a penalty converted by Osimhen and that was meant to give us a boost for the restart. There was a big chance to go 2-1 up with the save on Osimhen.
“The third goal was because we were all pouring forward trying to equalise, but the thing that is really bad is that we were all not aggressive enough when defending. When you lose at home and give away only four free kicks throughout, that is not normal.”
Jack Bonaventura restored the Viola lead and Garcia made risky substitutions, taking off Osimhen, Piotr Zielinski and Stanislav Lobotka.
It did not pay off, as instead Fiorentina substitute Nico Gonzalez added a third in stoppages and Napoli were jeered off the field by their fans.
That was not the only strange decision, as when Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa went off injured, Garcia put forward Giacomo Raspadori into midfield instead and told him to keep close to Arthur Melo.
“I wanted a high press and when Victor is left one-on-one against a high line, he can be devastating. We didn’t find him enough, we were not able to make the most of those situations,” explained Garcia.
“Frank Zambo got injured, so we used Raspa behind Victor. The problem is that we must improve when changing these systems, so the midfielders are helped by the wide men.
“The fresh legs came on and that was not enough. It was not our night.”
Those fresh legs were in place of Osimhen, Zielinski and Lobotka, arguably the most important players in the entire team.
Even before that, Raspadori was shifted over to the right flank when Jens Cajuste replaced Matteo Politano.
“I wanted to help the midfield more. That is also why I did not finish the game with two strikers, Cholito and Osimhen, because I thought we would lose the midfield too. In order to create chances, you need to have that build-up.
“There were many things that were not normal. The first cross in the first half was from Natan, that is not normal. We had worked on stopping the Fiorentina crosses, but their first goal was a cross. It was a lack of aggression more than anything.
“When it comes to the bench, I have different choices that can also change our tactical system. We tried everything today, but without being efficient enough. I think that was the big difference between the teams today.”
Garcia continues to insist the problem at Napoli this season is largely one of mentality and attitude rather than his own tactical changes.
“I don’t think it is a tactical issue, it is one of mentality. We must do better to stop the opposition attacks before they become dangerous. We have to work more on this, being more aggressive, being smarter in the earlier fouls higher up the pitch and not when they are already approaching our goal.”
Fiorentina had a high press and Napoli seemed unable to pass their way out of trouble.
“This is true. We usually have players with technical precision, so it was surprising to see that many errors. Our moves were not fluid enough and we were not aggressive.”
Considering he believes this to be a psychological problem, how does Garcia intend to rediscover Napoli’s ferocity?
“I must not be too hard on the players in the heat of the moment. It is my responsibility too for this defeat, but I did not expect this performance. We missed a great opportunity to stay in the top four.
“Until we can get three wins in a row, we will continue to be in and out of the top four and that is certainly not enough for Napoli.”