Carlo Ancelotti confirmed squad rotation is back for Napoli against Sampdoria after Maurizio Sarri’s departure. “If I change, it’s to keep the group motivated.”
It kicks off on Sunday at 19.30 UK time (18.30 GMT), click here for a match preview.
The Partenopei fought back to beat both Lazio and Milan in the opening two rounds and now visit Marco Giampaolo’s Sampdoria.
Carlo Ancelotti confirmed squad rotation is back for Napoli against Sampdoria after Maurizio Sarri’s departure. “If I change, it’s to keep the group motivated.”
It kicks off on Sunday at 19.30 UK time (18.30 GMT), click here for a match preview.
The Partenopei fought back to beat both Lazio and Milan in the opening two rounds and now visit Marco Giampaolo’s Sampdoria.
“It’s too early to be looking at the table, as we are concentrated on what we’ve done and what we still need to do,” said the Coach in his Press conference.
“We are facing a well-organised side with a smart Coach, but we are convinced that we can put in a very good performance. Our start against Lazio was a little timid, while with Milan we didn’t have the right intensity. We can’t always complete comebacks and we worked on some situations in training this week.”
There are reports Marek Hamsik and Jose Callejon could be rested in favour of Amadou Diawara and Simone Verdi, decisions that predecessor Maurizio Sarri practically never made.
“If I do change some things, it’s to keep the group motivated, not because anyone deserves to play less. Fortunately, there are more than 11 players who want to get on the field and there is an option to rotate the squad a little tomorrow.
“When you have such a competitive squad, it makes little difference whether you play 60 or 30 minutes. For example, Dries Mertens was decisive against Milan and he only came on for the final half-hour.
“Hamsik is growing in his new role and I think it is his natural position. He plays in a different way to Diawara, as Amadou has vivacity and enthusiasm, but not the same experience and technique.
“They are both important players for us and if I can use both in the same match, I’ll try to make the most of that opportunity. I have players who deserve to play and I have confidence in them, so if on the one hand it’s not easy to make changes to the line-up, on the other it reassures me that I can change without lowering the quality of the team.
“There are many ways to win a football match, but the important thing is to do it as a collective. It’s not hard with this squad, as I see no big egos in the side.”
Napoli squad for Sampdoria: Ospina, Karnezis, D'Andrea; Albiol, Malcuit, Koulibaly, Chiriches, Luperto, Maksimovic, Mario Rui, Hysaj; Allan, Rog, Diawara, Zielinski, Fabian, Hamsik; Verdi, Callejon, Ounas, Insigne, Mertens, Milik