Luciano Spalletti expects his Napoli side to show consistency in tomorrow’s match against Spezia.
The Partenopei secured an important 1-0 win over Milan on Sunday, with an early goal by Elif Elmas enough to secure the three points in the San Siro.
Speaking to gathered reporters in a press conference ahead of the match against Spezia, Spalletti first discussed the injury crisis plaguing his squad and what he expects in tomorrow’s match. ‘It’s clear that it’s always a disappointment when you don’t have players like Insigne and Osimhen, but hoping that the situation improves now we have to deal with the risk that something new could happen.
‘We also have an obligation to score more points because games go by and we don’t get any more. We have a difficult game ahead of us, we have to give consistency to that development of the game there, as if it were a continuation of the last one, making sure we never left the San Siro.
‘I know the atmosphere in La Spezia very well, I’ve played there, I’m particularly close to them and I know how that city lives its passion for this sport and I know it will be a difficult challenge. I’m sorry for those who are out, but those who are in must know what their behaviour will be.’
The Napoli coach looked ahead to next month’s Africa Cup of Nations and the effect that it’ll have on the squad. ‘I am a coach and I don’t put myself on a par with the institutions, it becomes easy for me to say that the African Cup of Nations would be a risk for people in general. I called it an invisible monster because from my point of view that is how it is.
‘Then I will really appreciate the competition because there are the best players in the world. On training day when I enter the locker room, not seeing statues like Osimhen and Koulibaly, I will miss the references and hopefully common sense and the reason of the institutions will make correct and deep evaluations.’
He commented on the physical condition of his squad after this morning’s training session, noting that ‘when the games are so close together unfortunately you have to take a few extra hours before drawing up the definitive line-up.
‘I’m confident about this morning’s training session, which was done properly, but we’ll know what the reactions will be in our legs and muscles this evening. Di Lorenzo on the left again? It’s linked to that.’
Spalletti discussed his character and how well it fits in the Napoli environment. ‘The way I am, it’s a mess to say if I’m happy or not. I’m still annoyed at what we didn’t manage to bring home, even though we couldn’t do anything about it. I would always take to the pitch. Last time I wore cleats so I wouldn’t slip, I once fell on the ground.
‘To go out on the pitch angry, hungry, ever since I started coaching, talking about football with friends, that’s how I approach games. I want to go and win the next ones. In the morning when I get up I find the Napoli fans when I go to get the car and they all have the same desire and charge that they transfer to you.
‘You can be whatever you want to be, but they get inside you, they make holes in you and beyond what you want they are there, they love the team and they want to contribute to winning the game.’ He said.
He looked back to Napoli’s win over Milan and if the Rossoneri’s last-minute equaliser was offside. ‘For some, Giroud’s offside was a particular offside in the heat of the moment because some doubts were raised, but in the cold everyone expressed, including the institutional bodies of the AIA, what is the UEFA and FIFA rule, unanimity.
‘If someone wants to stay hot without having cooled down it is his problem. Clearer than that is difficult. So I don’t understand what you are talking about.’
The Napoli coach spoke highly of midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, nothing that ‘Lobotka, like almost all Napoli players, is a good guy. I’ve always had great number 4s. The good regista is the one who knows how to do everything well, the great regista is the one who makes the team do everything well and Lobotka is part of the second group.
‘We have a lot of good registas, but of the great registas there is Fabián Ruiz. The regista is often the one who saves the coach from madness because you rely on his plays and it doesn’t matter if you have to organise many things. Great players have come through here, like Jorginho.’
Spalletti expects his squad to be fired up in tomorrow’s match against Spezia, despite the short turn around after the win over Milan. ‘This is the preparation conference for the match against Spezia, this morning it wasn’t the training session after Milan but in view of Spezia.
‘We have the obligation to win. Sometimes defeats create conditions for the players to grow. I’m eager and confident, as I hope my team will be tomorrow, and I want to see that from the first minute. We have to create something serious for people who live for the result of the match, you don’t joke about feelings. I want to see great intensity right from the warm-up.’ He noted.
He confirmed that Victor Osimhen won’t feature against Spezia. ‘He won’t be there tomorrow.’
The Italian coach spoke highly of tomorrow’s opponents, highlighting how ‘I saw a good Spezia against Empoli. Usually you make a montage with the opponent’s highlights, while today we saw 10 minutes without cuts to understand how the match that will go.’
He touched on the title race with Simone Inzaghi’s Inter this campaign, nothing that ‘we want to win every game and already being behind bothers us a bit. We are not behind, we have to be ourselves by playing good football and then we can see who we are worse than and who we could have taken a few more points off.
‘We have to have our own identity, a project, a desire to be ambitious and then at the end we will take stock.’
Spalletti detailed how rating players performances is different now with more substitutions. ‘If before there were three substitutions and one you saved until the end with the doubt of the goalkeeper, there were more minutes for those who started, now it’s different.
‘Politano and Lozano have less time to score goals. I told Giuntoli the other day that you have to reward by objectives, not by goals. Same thing for defenders, a saved goal is always valuable. For me it’s not about how many goals you score, but how you make the team play.’
He touched on the dangers of Spezia’s counter attacks and how he plans to limit them, suggesting that ‘in order not to suffer counters you need the right order of prevention, there are those who act as forwards and those who act as defenders. They have these two at full-back to keep an eye on.’
The Napoli coach was satisfied with Juan Jesus’ performance in the win over Milan, saying ‘enough talk about Milan, now we have Spezia. I don’t want to talk about individuals, they’ve all done well.
‘If Anguissa hadn’t worked hard to get him dirtier balls, if Lozano hadn’t pressed higher, everything would be different. Juan Jesus did his part, he can still improve. The club has done well in the transfer market.’
Finally, Spalletti expressed the festive spirit and the importance of the Napoli fans. ‘Often initiatives are taken to have the stadium as full as possible because it is a meeting point, important messages can be given.
‘We wish these people who love Napoli, who try to spur us on every day, a Merry Christmas, hoping they’ll be physically and mentally well. Maybe they should also watch out for the new wave of Covid and every time you raise your glass to toast say ‘Forza Napoli.’ He concluded.
Napoli, Spalletti: 'Serve continuità dopo San Siro. Giroud in fuorigioco, è la regola! Non vogliamo essere l'anti Inter' https://t.co/DQUuVTDqmM pic.twitter.com/scwrkZTfAW
— calciomercato.com (@cmdotcom) December 21, 2021
Of all the coaches Napoli have had in the last ten years, I most love the way Spalletti talks about the players, the team, and the fans. Players frequently talk about their need to “feel important”, and I believe Spalletti does that with every single player on the team. What a change from Sarri, who had his preferred eleven and never went beyond it unless absolutely driven to it by circumstance.
Forza Spalletti; forza Napoli!
And Merry Christmas to all – God bless us, every one.