Spalletti gives thoughts on new signings Kim and Kvaratskhelia

Luciano Spalletti spoke positively about new arrivals Kim Min-Jae and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia following Napoli’s tiring 1-1 friendly draw with RCD Mallorca.

The Partenopei put in a decent shift against the Spanish side in this evening’s draining friendly, a match that ultimately proved to be an important test of stamina for Spalletti’s side ahead of the rapidly approaching Serie A season.

Speaking via TuttoMercatoWeb after the match, Spalletti first reacted to Napoli’s performance in the 1-1 draw with Mallorca.

“It was a little bit good, but a little bit off the mark. We had some difficulties in handling the ball, it was moving slowly and they were marked. 

“Then if you play with two different systems, if you are not aggressive, you are stuck in the middle and you never recover the ball. In the second half we had to do better.”

He touched on the fact that the game was fairly physical despite being a pre-season friendly.

“It’s like that, whoever comes on creates these difficulties, fouling, diving, fights, better when there are real matches because you spend a lot of time on fouls that aren’t there and there is no rhythm.”

The Napoli coach spoke highly of new signing Kim, who was brought in to fill the void left after the departure of Kalidou Koulibaly.

“Very good, he showed physicality and skill with his feet, he is a responsive, muscular, a technical guy.”

Finally, Spalletti discussed the performance of Georgian talent Kvaratskhelia.

“He did well, the others as well, he has the ability to beat his man, he wasn’t lucky in some situations, but he did well, for sure. We’ll all have to do better, but in the first half we did very well.”

Napoli have two more pre-season friendlies left before their Serie A season kicks off – first they’ll face Girona on August 3 before facing Espanyol on August 6. Their first league match is against Hellas Verona on August 15.