Can SSC Napoli Return to Winning Ways?

From Serie C1 to the European stage in four seasons—that’s the impressive feat former Partenopei coach Edy Reja managed to accomplish during his time at the club.

Despite beginning the season in a fashionable way—when even the prospect of Champions League seemed highly possible—a string of disastrous results after the turn of the year has seen Napoli freefall in the table down to 12th place.

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the club with stubborn reports of late night parties and fistfights in training. At one point during the season representatives of the Napoli Ultras sat down with players, coaches, and club representatives to discuss a plan of action.

The aim was to bring back the team spirit that had seen the team flying high ever since Reja took over the reins at the Naples club.

The result? A ritiro supervised by the Ultras themselves which in the end yielded no positive results at all.

To say that the club was in crisis is probably an understatement.

The poor results persisted and the growing anger from the supporters started to mount pressure on owner Aurelio De Laurentiis.

On March 10 De Laurentiis finally succumbed to the pressure to take a plan of action and decided to sack Reja after five years at the helm. According to the film producer the shock would straighten the players out.

Former Italy coach Roberto Donadoni was named new manager of Napoli. Although it remains somewhat of a questionable choice, most of the Azzurri faithful were just glad to see some form of action taken by the board.

Donadoni’s first game in charge ended in a 1-1 draw away against Reggina—quite a feat considering Napoli had lost eight away games on the trot prior to that.

The players’ approach in the first half was very careful, but the fear started to evaporate in the second as a goalkeeping howler allowed Ezequiel Lavezzi to equalize.

Even though the 4-3-1-2 has been tried out and even looked promising, the newly appointed coach preferred to stay true to Reja’s classic 3-5-2.

The former Italy coach’s debut at the Stadio San Paolo against Milan should have ended in a victory for the home side but much to their disappointment an incorrect offside ruling from the linesman saw the game end in a goalless draw.

Things have started to look much better on the field but there is still a very long way to go. Daniele Mannini showcased fine form as he made his comeback from his suspension against Milan while waiting to hear from the disciplinary commission.

The winger put in a fantastic performance and the co-operation with Marek Hamsik looked nothing short of brilliant at times.

Despite Hamsik being Napoli’s top scorer thus far, the midfielder has undoubtedly lost his fine form of last season. Along with that, striking-duo Ezequiel Lavezzi and Marcelo Zalayeta have—despite their hard work—looked very ineffective in front of goal lately.

Donadoni’s main target for now has to be to change the players’ almost submissive state of mind and make them release their fearful approach to games.

In other words, the former Napoli player will have to be the one that brings back the level of confidence the team possessed during the start of the season.