Napoli director Mauro Meluso explains why the club ‘had to’ sack Rudi Garcia and bring back Walter Mazzarri after a decade away. ‘He is respected in Naples.’
The match with Atalanta kicks off at the Gewiss Stadium at 17.00 GMT.
Garcia had already been at risk in October, but the decision to fire him was finally made a couple of weeks ago, going into the break for international duty.
“With great regret, when things don’t go well we have to made a radical intervention, even if we don’t want to. Unfortunately, we had to make a big change,” Meluso told DAZN.
This is the ‘debut’ for Mazzarri, even though he was already in charge of the Partenopei just over 10 years ago, helping a club coming back from bankruptcy to qualify for the Champions League.
Why was the veteran chosen, especially after Igor Tudor was also interviewed by President Aurelio De Laurentiis for the role?
“Mazzarri has an important history and not just with Napoli, so he knows the atmosphere well, is respected in Naples and above all has great capabilities. We pondered this choice and hope he can continue to bring the enthusiasm we have already seen so far.”
It is hardly an easy start for Mazzarri, as after facing Atalanta in Bergamo today, he travels to Madrid in the Champions League and then takes on Serie A leaders Inter next weekend.
“Since his arrival, he’s had barely half the squad at his disposal, so has very little time to prepare the next few games against Real Madrid and Inter as well as Atalanta. However, we know Mazzarri tends to flourish in difficult situations, so we have faith in him.”