Luciano Spalletti condemns Napoli and Spezia fans for their ugly clashes in the stands, reiterating he wants to keep Kalidou Koulibaly. ‘Some departures could damage the self-esteem of the squad.’
The match was a comfortable 3-0 away victory at the Stadio Picco, but it was interrupted after just 12 minutes when clashes broke out between the sets of fans behind Alex Meret’s goal.
According to Sky Sport Italia and DAZN, there had already been incidents before the game, which prompted this retaliation soon after kick-off.
“There should be another kind of behaviour, it’s disappointing and we need to avoid this sort of thing happening again,” Spalletti told DAZN.
“We went under the Curva, they calmed down and got back to cheering on their own team. They always ought to do that, not insult or cheer against the opposition. It breaks our heart to see families, children in the stadium having to witness that sort of thing.
“Today we showed great professionalism with players who during the season didn’t play as much, but proved themselves ready. For example, Davide Marfella made a good save.”
This was also the final match for several players in the Napoli jersey, certainly Lorenzo Insigne and Faouzi Ghoulam, while the future remains in doubt for Dries Mertens, Victor Osimhen, Piotr Zielinski, Kalidou Koulibaly and Fabian Ruiz.
“Our directors are making plans, we can’t sort everything out in 10 days. We need to be ready for some situations if certain players do leave. Some departures could damage the self-esteem of the squad.”
The coach also spoke during a press conference and was asked specifically about Koulibaly’s future.
“The club knows what I think, there are players who bring something different, especially if they are already embedded in the fabric of the city. It takes time to introduce someone who can fill those shoes. You buy good players, but you create leaders.”
Insigne is heading to Major League Soccer and Toronto FC, so he had a farewell dinner this week with everyone who works at the club.
“I spoke to him about Toronto and he asked me to ring him as often as possible. Even if there’s a big Italian community there, he has the Napoli jersey tattooed on his skin, after this city it will be difficult to adapt to a different environment.”
#Napoli, #Spalletti: ‘L’episodio dei tifosi allontana le persone dal calcio. Rischiamo di perdere tanti leader, #Insigne mi ha chiesto una cosa…’ https://t.co/GASWJsjG0a pic.twitter.com/aI5lkqHCRT
— calciomercato.com (@cmdotcom) May 22, 2022