Luciano Spalletti explains how Kvicha Kvaratskhelia and Giacomo Raspadori provide the ‘unpredictability’ to make Napoli so dangerous this season.
The Partenopei went into the break for the 2022 World Cup as runaway Serie A leaders and top of their Champions League group, where they will face Eintracht Frankfurt in the Round of 16 in February.
Their campaign resumes from January 4 with a huge Scudetto showdown against Inter and that has to overshadow their thoughts during the friendly tests and training sessions.
“The club organised this training retreat in Turkey very well, it was a perfect place for us and playing against high level opponents helped us prepare better for the season to resume,” Spalletti told Sky Sport Italia.
“We are already thinking about the big games we will face when it kicks off again.”
The next test will be against Villarreal at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona later this evening.
While many clubs have seen their star names play in Qatar, but Napoli are fortunate enough to have players whose countries did not qualify for the World Cup and in theory should be fresher for the second half of the season, including Victor Osimhen.
“Raspadori is very useful in helping the team, his deeper runs and then throwing himself forward behind the defensive line. These are important qualities and he can give us many solutions, playing in two or three different roles, providing a link between the midfield and attack.”
Kvaratskhelia was the star man for the first part of the season, making his name known throughout Italy and Europe for his goals, assists and dribbling skills.
“We have Kvara available after that back injury. His greatest strength is when he runs at defenders, cuts inside and takes the shot.
“He has this sensibility, this quality of finding trajectories and runs that are really unpredictable.”