UEFA Champions League: 5 Reasons Napoli Will and Won't Do Well Next Season

After an amazing 2010-11 campaign in Serie A which saw Napoli finish third and cause some problems for Italian giants all around, the Napoli have qualified directly to the Champions League for the first time in 21 years.

The team were as low as Serie C1 just six season ago, but now they are at the top level of European football and will expect nothing short of another successful campaign.

Many have already written off the chances of the Italian underdogs, but time and time again last season they proved that they are not a team to be reckoned with and that they mean some serious business.

In this article, I'll take a look at the five major reasons that Napoli can and cannot find success in the Champions League next season.

Will: Good Transfer Activity

One of the most important components of Napoli's strength next season will be their activity in the summer transfer window.

The most important thing for the club will be to retain their stars. After their amazing exploits last season, the attacking trio of Edinson Cavani, Marek Hamsik, and Ezequiel Lavezzi have all been linked with moves away from the club.

However, it looks as though the club has done very well in keeping their star trio despite interest from top European teams.

In addition, the club have made some good signings, bringing in defensive cover in the form of Federico Fernandez and Miguel Britos, and adding key pieces to their midfield through Gokhan Inler and Marco Donadel.

Will: They're an All Around Quality Team

In terms of football, Napoli are an all around talented squad.

With Morgan De Sanctis in net and solid defensive players such as Paolo Cannavaro, Hugo Campagnaro, Andrea Dossena, Juan Zuniga, and more at the back,  Napoli have their defense sorted out.

The midfield is also very strong with players like Christian Maggio, Blerim Dzemaili, Walter Gargano, Gokhan Inler, Mario Santana, Marco Donadel and, most notably, Marek Hamsik.

Finally, up front you have the talented duo of Edinson Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi, as well as reliable options Giuseppe Mascara and Cristiano Lucarelli.

Judging the team in terms of personal talent, it's quite obvious that this is a pretty well rounded football team with all the key ingredients to be successful in the UEFA Champions League.  

Won't: Lack of Depth

As good as the team is though, one of Napoli's major problems is its lack of depth. 

While they have brought in an abundance of talented midfielders, the Partenopei are still lacking with good defensive options, especially considering the fact the Hugo Campagnaro is a major doubt for next season. 

Apart from Edinson Cavani up front, they also lack a true secondary goal scorer who is able to step up to the plate and deliver week in, week out. While Hamsik and Lavezzi found the back of the net often, Cavani shouldered the major goal scoring load, and his club often relied on last minute wonder strikes from the Uruguayan just to get results.

His injury in the Copa America could be a bad omen for the club, who were very lucky to not suffer any major injury problems in the past season.  

Won't: Inconsistency

At times last season, Napoli played absolutley fantastic football and impressed thoroughly; but at other times they slumped to poor runs of results and some very unconvincing performances.

For example, as good as they were against some of Serie A's smaller sides, they didn't manage to win any of their fixtures against AC or Inter Milan, and couldn't even beat Udinese in two tries.

“Playing against Barcelona would be enormously exciting.” Those were the words of Napoli captain Paolo Cannavaro when asked what he thought of next season's experience in the Champions League.

As exciting as the prospect would be, the Napoli have a long way to go before they can seriously challenge a team as large as Barcelona, and as undoubted as their quality is, I'm just not sure if they are ready for a challenge this large. 

Won't: Inexperience

In addition to their inconsistency, Napoli's squad is ultimately very inexperienced. Although, they have many older players, few of them have experienced much Champions League football in the career.

Additionally, their young trio of Hamsik, Cavani and Lavezzi have never played in the Champions League, and this will be their first season.

Their inexperience is probably best illustrated through their unsuccessful run in the Europa League last season. They just managed to get out of their group and then suffered a 2-1 turnaround defeat in the second leg against Villarreal; in which they conceded two goals in five minutes and were eliminated in the Round of 16.

As good as they are in Serie A, whether or not they can play in three competitions all season long and manage to play at a top level is questionable.  

Conclusion

Contender or Pretender: I'm a big fan of the Azzuri and I would love to see the team do well in the Champions League next year, but in terms of winning it all they are definitely a pretender. They have talent all around but as mentioned, but they lack the depth and experience to go very far in the tournament. Playing in three competitions will prove too difficult and I expect an overall slump from last season's form from the Napoli team.

Reasonable Goal: A reasonable expectation for Napoli would be to finish first or second in their group and make the Round of 16. The quarterfinals should also be viewed as an attainable goal, and anything further would be a great success for the club.