After a Strong 2010-2011 Season for Napoli, What Lies Ahead?

Yes, I'm well aware that outside of the Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan, and maybe Roma, not many people care about Serie A these days, especially as it continues to be overtaken by Germany and the Bundesliga in the UEFA coefficient rankings. Nevertheless, I thought I'd spare a thought for the surprise package of last year's Serie A campaign and one of my favorite teams to play with on FIFA: Napoli.

Since the Maradona years, Napoli have been a club in flux. Following Maradona's departure from the club, Napoli failed to challenge seriously for the league title, began to struggle financially, lost many of their big stars, and eventually were relegated to Serie B in 1997-98.

They spent the next couple of seasons getting promoted and then getting relegated back to Serie B, before getting stuck in Serie B and continuing to accumulate debt.

In August 2004, with over €70 million in debt, Napoli declared bankruptcy, but were luckily re-founded by film producer Aurelio De Laurentiis.

They started out in Serie C1, but by adopting the club's old history, were able to bring in crowds of up to 50,000, and in three quick seasons, found themselves in Serie A.

They proceeded to finish eighth in the league in the first season back in the Italian top-tier, 11th in 2008-2009, and sixth in 2009-10.

Thus, going into the 2010-2011 season, Napoli had begun to establish their reputation as a upper mid table team, a solid Italian team with good history that had the potential to challenge for the UEFA Cup/Europa League spots on a consistent basis. No one predicted a legitimate title challenge from the Partenopei, but that's exactly what Napoli delivered. 

With the play making abilities of vice-captain Marek Hamsik, the trickery and dribbling skills of Ezequiel Lavezzi, and the monstrous goalscoring talent of Edinson Cavani, as well as excellent leadership in defense in the form of captain Paolo Cannavaro (Fabio's younger brother) and Hugo Campagnaro, Napoli took the league by storm, and quickly found themselves to be the No. 1 challengers to AC Milan's run at the title.

Expectedly, as the season progressed their form cooled down a bit, but the Naples side still managed to finish impressively in third place, ahead much wealthier sides in Roma and Juventus, as well as very competitive and talented squads like Lazio, and Udinese. For the first time since Maradona, Napoli qualified for the Champions League.

Now, with the 2010-2011 season in the history books and Napoli gearing up for their first Champions League run in over two decades, the question must be asked: Can Napoli maintain their success from last season and challenge once more for the title? The answer is dependent on many different factors.  

For one, the most important requirement for any team looking to maintain its success is to hold onto its key players.

Thus far there have been no major reports linking any of Napoli's big attacking three (Hamsik, Lavezzi, and Cavani) with moves away from Napoli (the ridiculous Manchester City links don't count). If Napoli want to have any hope of challenging for the Serie A title once more, they will have to be vigilant in warding off interest in their Big Three.

Secondly, any team looking to challenge for a league title, especially in a big league like Italy, and also play decently in the Champions League, must have a squad deep enough to deal with the strain of playing in three different competitions (Champions League, Italian League, Italian Cup) at once.

Napoli were lucky last season to not really have to worry too much about Europe, having exited the Europa League rather early in the Round of 32, and were also lucky to avoid major injuries, as Cavani was able to stay fit practically all season long.

They cannot rely on luck, however, if they hope to replicate their success next season.

Already, Napoli have lost Hassan Yebda as he returned to Benfica after his loan expired, Michele Pazienza to Juventus on a free transfer, and Cristiano Lucarelli as his loan from Parma also expired. None of these players are irreplaceable members of the Napoli squad, but without signings to replace them, Napoli could find themselves overstretched during the season and unable to give their players time to rest.

Additionally, one of Napoli's star center backs of last season, Hugo Campagnero, has been charged with aggravated involuntary manslaughter and faces extended jail time, so he too represents a major squad player who needs to be replaced ASAP by Napoli.

However, both Luca Cigarini and Fabio Quagliarella have returned from successful loans with Seville and Juventus respectively, and it seems Federico Fernandez has already been signed as a replacement for Campagnaro, so Napoli seem to be moving in the right direction. Add in the signings of Marco Donadel, Mario Santana, and especially Italian international and starting left back Domenico Criscito, and it seems like Napoli definitely know what they're doing.

Last but not least, a team looking to continue its success must have stability and organization.

Although he was linked with Juventus for a while after the sacking of Luigi Del Niri, Walter Mazzarri has very recently signed a five-year contract with the club, and seems to have President De Laurentiis' full support, as evidenced by the numerous signings already made to reinforce the squad.

So, in a word, yes; I do believe Napoli can follow up last season's success with more success this season, and that they will be challenging for the title.

Do I believe they'll win the Serie A? No, I think their squad is still far from containing the same amount of talent as the squads at Inter and AC Milan.

Do I think they'll win the Champions League? No, even if the squad was more talented, it's far too inexperienced.

However, I do believe that, like Tottenham, Napoli definitely have the potential to surprise us all with a strong run at the top 3 spots in Serie A, and maybe will even be able to cause a few upsets in the Champions League. With a good core of stars, a solid squad, and effective organization, the future looks very bright for Napoli.

What do you think? Do you think Napoli will go on to establish themselves among the elite clubs of Italian football, or will they return to being Europa League challengers, or maybe even worse, next season? What do you think Napoli need to do in order to maintain their success? Feel free to share your comments, thoughts, and ideas; I look forward to reading them.