Nikola Maksimovic admits Napoli fans are “a bit crazy” but “in a good way” and says they’ve been unlucky recently.
The Serbian defender joined the Partenopei from Torino this summer, and echoed the words of Arkadiusz Milik while discussing a recent three-game winless run.
“Of course when you play for a club with big ambitions, the pressure can only be high,” Maksimovic explained to media in his homeland.
Nikola Maksimovic admits Napoli fans are “a bit crazy” but “in a good way” and says they’ve been unlucky recently.
The Serbian defender joined the Partenopei from Torino this summer, and echoed the words of Arkadiusz Milik while discussing a recent three-game winless run.
“Of course when you play for a club with big ambitions, the pressure can only be high,” Maksimovic explained to media in his homeland.
“We’re having a small crisis in terms of results, and we’ve been unlucky with the players who have been injured.
“It’s a period where we’re playing well, but the games just aren’t going in the right way, we’re creating chances but there’s no player to finish them off.
“There’s no extra pressure, notwithstanding talk of a fanbase like Napoli’s. The fans are a bit like Red Star Belgrade’s, following you wherever you go; when you go out or to a restaurant.
“It’s a bit crazy, but in a good way, no-one wants to do any harm to you. They live for football, and that’s it. If you’re a Napoli player, then Naples looks at you like a God.
“I see it every day, it gives you extra motivation and it supports you in difficult times to do more and achieve better results.
“It’s a time when we’re playing badly, but the fans are behind us and support us, and they’ve told us to keep going because they’re on our side and pushing us.
“There were so many of them at Crotone, the fans are with us in every game and in Europe too. It doesn’t matter where we play, they’re always with us.
“When we play away, they make us feel like we’re at home.”
Maksimovic moved on the last day of the transfer window having gone on strike, with Toro Coach Sinisa Mihajlovic declaring the centre-back “dead to me”.
“It was all done on the last day of the transfer window, but President [Aurelio] De Laurentiis could have said he didn’t want to pay so much to buy me.
“The key thing in those hours was closing the deal, it didn’t matter about the price. The sporting director and the Coach [Maurizio Sarri] were interested in me and they talked about it with the President, the latter did everything to sign me and I’m grateful for that.
“I wanted to change situations, I wanted to play in a back-four and at a higher level. I think Napoli was the right place to grow again, to play in the Champions League and to fight to win things.
“Mihajlovic? I don’t like talking about it, if I have something to say to him then I’ll look him in the eyes rather than talking through the media.”