Walter Mazzarri explains why he changed Napoli tactics to surprise Fiorentina, warning the 4-3-3 was already starting to lose its shine even under Luciano Spalletti.
The coach surprised many by shelving the 4-3-3 formation for a 3-4-3 shape going into this Supercoppa Italiana semi-final in Riyadh, but it paid off with a 3-0 victory.
“In all honesty, I saw the game Fiorentina won 3-1 against Napoli before I arrived and I assumed that Vincenzo Italiano would take the same approach,” Mazzarri told Mediaset.
“I therefore tried to give the lads more protection, as we could not press them in our condition, and it was the only way to deal with a Fiorentina side who caused Napoli all sorts of problems last time.”
Giovanni Simeone had opened the scoring on a Juan Jesus cross-field pass, then Jonathan Ikone ballooned a penalty over the bar that would’ve allowed Fiorentina to equalise on the stroke of half-time.
Instead, Alessio Zerbin came off the bench late on and bagged a quickfire brace to set up the final on Monday evening against either Inter or Lazio.
“Zerbin has incredible qualities. Unfortunately, people are obsessed with bringing in players from abroad and tend to ignore those who are homegrown. He scored two great goals, but he is young, lacking in maturity in some situations, so we need a little patience. But I am convinced he will have a great future.”
Cholito Simeone was given the nod upfront rather than Giacomo Raspadori, while Victor Osimhen is away at the Africa Cup of Nations.
“I praised Simeone yesterday, because he is a player every coach would love to work with. If he plays seven minutes, 20 or 90, he is always positive with his teammates. He is also very good on the field and he deserves all the praise.”
This 3-4-3 is a huge shift for Napoli, especially as President Aurelio De Laurentiis had said he only hired Rudi Garcia because he played the same 4-3-3 as Scudetto-winner Spalletti.
“Napoli changed a great deal since last season and it’s natural they are not going to be able to play the same way they did with that wonderful 4-3-3. I had to shake things up and tell the lads we could play in a similar way to last season, but not exactly the same,” continued the coach.
“It is good that they now have these other options so that we can become unpredictable. If you remember, Napoli won the Scudetto last season, but were struggling towards the end of the campaign, because the opponents study you carefully and it becomes difficult to keep repeating the same thing successfully.
“I studied Napoli and was fascinated by that team. I watched all their games. If you remember when I was the coach of Napoli the first time and we had a three-man defence, I’d move Valon Behrami in front of the defence, take off a defender and make it a 4-3-3. I did it many times.
“You need the right players who have a lot of pace and who can recover the ball well to play like that regularly, defenders like Kim Min-jae. After a month of working with a team, you have to try to tailor the shirt to fit the players you have at your disposal.
“I do hope to go back to playing 4-3-3.”
. @sscnapoli, #Mazzarri: #Zerbin è un grande talento. Ora c’è la moda di prendere giocatori all’estero senza guardare in casa propria” https://t.co/jKdHHshUVk
— Gianluca Di Marzio (@DiMarzio) January 18, 2024
No surprise Mazzari is coming out with this nonsense. Mazzari only know how’s to play 343 and 532. Both very defensive formations. Making out that the team that one the league cannot play the same formation that won them the league.