Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis claims he told Coach Maurizio Sarri to switch to a 4-3-3.
The Partenopei have won their last five Serie A games playing with a trident, and the patron insists he had something to do with it.
“The Coach caused me great pain in the past,” De Laurentiis recalled on Radio 24.
“For Empoli-Napoli last year I couldn’t go to the game, so I called the communications director [Nicola] Lombardo to ask the result, and he said ‘3-0’.
Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis claims he told Coach Maurizio Sarri to switch to a 4-3-3.
The Partenopei have won their last five Serie A games playing with a trident, and the patron insists he had something to do with it.
“The Coach caused me great pain in the past,” De Laurentiis recalled on Radio 24.
“For Empoli-Napoli last year I couldn’t go to the game, so I called the communications director [Nicola] Lombardo to ask the result, and he said ‘3-0’.
“I thought we were winning, but we were losing. I’d already been studying the Tuscan club, since I was interested in players like [Elseid] Hysaj and [Mirko] Valdifiori.
“I wanted to start an Italian project, I spoke to Sarri at an event in Amalfi and I realised he was dying to Coach the club.
“I made him understand immediately that I had a duty to defend the club, offering him a one-year contract with options for five years.
“In the world of cinema, I’m in the habit of letting people work, but you can intervene after the first showing of a film, which is impossible in football.
“Sarri urged me to get [Riccardo] Saponara, but I realised that I couldn’t buy all the Empoli players. He wanted a trequartista to play 4-3-1-2, a formation which concerned me, because we have six strikers.
“At first I kept quiet, but since we weren’t getting the results, I called [sporting director Cristiano] Giuntoli to convince the Coach to change formation, that he had to play 4-3-3.
“The sporting director said that he was already saying that, but we had to insist and convince him. Eventually he was convinced and you can see the results.”
Does the change in form and formation mean that Napoli can fight for the Scudetto this season?
“If Sarri continues to prepare the team in such a careful way, I think we have a great opportunity to fight until the end, but I don’t want to say that little word [Scudetto].
“The players have to be loaded with buckshot, but we can’t talk about that goal. 12 years ago I received a piece of paper for €33m, with the promise of re-starting from Serie B.
“Instead they gave me the gift of Serie C, where we spent two years. Then we were in a very difficult Serie B with Juventus [in 2006/07], but it was a unique and unrepeatable learning experience.
“Later we arrived in Serie A, and now we’re the only Italian team to have been in Europe for the last six years, so I can’t complain, and we’ve also won things.
“It [the Scudetto] remains a goal, but we’ll see…”