Aurelio De Laurentiis and Napoli confirmed the appointment of new head coach Rudi Garcia, something that hasn’t been well received by the club’s supporters, Apollo Heyes writes.
Luciano Spalletti confirmed that he was leaving the Partenopei at the end of the 2022-23 season, wanting to take a sabbatical year after his historic Scudetto success in the Campania capital.
This forced Napoli to find a new coach to replace the Tuscan and a long list of names were considered, from Vincenzo Italiano and Christophe Galtier to Paulo Sousa and Thiago Motta. De Laurentiis made it clear that the team would need to play in a 4-3-3 formation.
When Garcia was first linked with the Napoli job, many fans hoped that he was simply another name on the long list of candidates, but this fear became an abrupt reality after De Laurentiis’ announcement on Thursday.
It would be fair to say the French coach’s stocks are not high currently. In April, he was dismissed by Saudi side Al-Nassr – home of Cristiano Ronaldo – after 26 games, being replaced by Dinko Jelicic.
Prior to that, he spent almost two years with Olympique Lyon, where he lost the Coupe de la Ligue final to Paris Saint-Germain. Garcia’s last trophy came in the 2010-11 season, when he won the double with Lille.
Considering that it’s been well over a decade then since Garcia won silverware, Napoli’s decision to appoint him has raised eyebrows, with many fans concerned that his hiring shows a lack of ambition and desire to grow the project built by Spalletti.
This seems to be a realistic concern. Spalletti transformed Napoli into one of the most exciting and electric teams in Europe, and it’s hard to imagine Garcia maintaining this level in the 2023-24 season, especially considering his recent career trajectory.
It’s now up to the Frenchman to prove the doubters wrong, but it won’t be an easy task, with the majority seeming to believe that his days in the Campania capital are already numbered.
Twitter: @ApolloHeyes
The typical cheap option we see in Serie A.
Hopefully we’ll be proven wrong.
very strange choice. I doubt he will last the season
If I remember correctly Luciano wasn’t totally accepted. To me he was remembered as the coach who tried to ruin Totti’s time at Roma. Caused him to retire. Gave him no respect. Let’s give Rudi a chance. He has coached Serie A. Hopefully can can keep most of this team intact. Glad they signed Simeoni.
It’s a bizarre appointment, what is ADL playing at. Could he be fired before the start of the season?
The only thing I’ll say is that when he coached Roma he had them playing some fantastic attacking football so let’s see what he does with Napoli.