Rafael Benitez Should Fear for His Job After Napoli Draw at Home to Palermo

Following Wednesday's 3-3 home draw with Palermo, Napoli now have just four points from four Serie A games and coach Rafael Benitez must be deeply worried about his job security.

Whistles rang out around the Stadio San Paolo after the full time whistle as Napoli fans showed their anger at their club's disappointing start to the season.

The team failed to make the Champions League group stages after an aggregate loss to Athletic Bilbao and now sit in 15th position on the Serie A ladder.

An impressive opening-round win away to Genoa was followed up by consecutive losses to Chievo Verona and Udinese. The draw with Palermo may have been entertaining for neutrals but was certainly not what Benitez needed.

For the side that finished third in 2013-14 and second the season before that, the current situation can only be regarded as dire.

Reigning champions Juventus and last season's runners-up Roma are already streaking away into the distance, having accumulated a maximum 12 points each in the first four rounds, while the teams Napoli would have been expecting to be competing with for European places are already going to take some chasing down.

The Palermo match exemplified the very un-Benitez-like character of the side. The Sicilians named an attacking lineup and the game quickly turned into an open, end-to-end affair.

Neither side paid much heed to defence as the goals rained in. Kalidou Koulibaly, Duvan Zapata and Jose Callejon found the net for Napoli in the first half, while Andrea Belotti and Franco Vazquez struck for the visitors to make it 3-2 at the break.

Belotti followed up his first Serie A goal with another in the second half to ensure Palermo grabbed a valuable away draw.

The Rosanero front three of Belotti, Vazquez and Paulo Dybala deserve a lot of credit for their dynamic play, but they had plenty of space to operate in as Napoli were repeatedly caught napping at the back.

This is at odds to what we have come to expect from a Benitez outfit. The Spaniard has forged a reputation over many years of sending out teams that are solid defensively, tactically sound and usually very difficult to score against.

One could argue that he is adapting his style to the players he has at his disposal, but he has had several transfer windows already to alter to squad to his liking, so that is no longer a valid excuse.

Combined with the Champions League failure, if Napoli continue to struggle in Serie A, club president Aurelio de Laurentiis may fast be running out of patience with Benitez.