The 2022/23 Serie A season was perfect for the football romantics as Napoli won the Scudetto for the first time since the days of Diego Maradona. Their abject downfall this season has attracted just as much attention, with a repeat of that title win now seemingly a far-fetched dream.
If there’s a word that encapsulates Napoli’s struggles this season, it is probably ‘chaos’. The contrast from the success of last season is incredibly stark, as the Partenopei lie eighth in the table and have already crashed out of the Coppa Italia. As they prepare for the Supercoppa Italiana in Saudi Arabia, a feeling of pessimism lingers around the club despite the recent 2-1 win over local rivals Salernitana as they had to rely on a late Amir Rrahmani goal to seal all three points against Serie A’s rock bottom side.
It isn’t just the lack of results that is the problem, the season has seen a fair amount of drama and controversy unfold off the field and all of that has contributed to the frustration at the club. Even though the South Coast club seem set to make at least three signings this month, it remains to be seen whether they can turn things around in what’s left of the 2023/24 campaign.
With that in mind, we explore the reasons why Napoli are not matching the heights of last season.
A numerical fall-off
Last season, Napoli conceded an xG of only 32.1, which was the best tally in the league and that is less than one goal per 90.
A comparison to this season would suggest that things have fallen off significantly in the backline and the reasons for that are both personnel and tactics related, with the club having failed to replicate Luciano Spalletti’s approach, under the two managers subsequently employed to replace him; Rudi Garcia and Walter Mazzarri.
They are ninth in the xG conceded charts, having already given up an xG of 21.8 when only a half of the season has been played. They have conceded a goal every 90 minutes, which is a fair reflection of how far things have come for the champions.
Even in attack, things seem worse off. Much worse off. The team that relied on fluid movements across the final third has become one which seems scared or, if anything, happy to bask in last season’s achievement.
They have gone from scoring at a rate of two goals per game to scoring 1.5 goals per game this season, which is a major drop off. That brings us onto the co-related reasons for the numerical downfall.
Failure to replace key personnel
Last season, a part of Napoli’s success was credited to their excellent recruitment after losing the likes of Lorenzo Insigne, Dries Mertens, Kalidou Koulibaly and Fabián Ruiz during the previous off-season.
Historically known as a club that recruits well, Napoli had Cristiano Guintoli for many years to make sure that the departure of players wasn’t keenly felt. In the summer, Guintoli headed to rivals Juventus, following the path that Gonzalo Higuaín took many years ago. In came former Spezia technical director Mauro Meluso, who had never operated at the highest level of the sport.
This was followed by Luciano Spalletti’s acrimonious exit, with the reasons ranging from the fact that he and CEO Aurelio de Laurentiis were not seeing eye-to-eye to a lack of commitment shown in the transfer window to upgrade the squad. Losing Spalletti wasn’t the problem, but bringing in Rudi Garcia was. The Frenchman’s hasty return to Italy came after a disappointing spell at Al Nassr and amidst clear signs of his declining stock. His appointment came despite the Partenopei’s links with the likes of Julian Nagelsmann and Luis Enrique.
The story of exits didn’t end there, as Kim Min-Jae departed for Bayern Munich and with the club struggling to land a top class replacement, Red Bull Bragantino’s Natan was signed for €10m in what has proved to be a very underwhelming move. To be fair to him, due to injuries, he has often played left-back, which has had a knock-on effect on how star man Khvicha Kvaratskhelia operates further up the field.
Moves for Jesper Lindstrom and Jens Cajuste haven’t led to a concrete improvement either.
Injuries
Apart from a drop in his numbers, there has been a change in the way Kvaratskhelia has been deployed, and that is partly because of injuries. The regular presence of Mathías Olivera and Mário Rui last season made sure that the Georgian was never caught out in 2v1 situations but injuries to the duo have made sure that the winger is often nullified by the opposition.
Victor Osimhen himself has picked up injuries this season, derailing his rapid rise to the top. Natan himself is currently injured, with backup defender Juan Jesus’ issues also having impacted the club’s overall defensive composition.
Managerial instability and lack of quality
Eyebrows were raised when Garcia was appointed from almost out of nowhere. For De Laurentiis, it was a cheap move and there was the lingering guarantee of the Frenchman having the Serie A know-how.
But that appeared to have deserted Garcia during his time in charge. His odd substitutions saw Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia publicly express anger at decisions when they were replaced, suggesting that not everything was right. Matteo Politano, who has been a standout performer, also expressed annoyance at his substitution later. It was clear that Garcia was not commanding the respect of the players, who weren’t at their best at all while being held back by a system that sought to seek more control than Spalletti’s previous approach.
De Laurentiis failed in moves for Antonio Conte and Igor Tudor, and the replacement for Garcia was another man whose career graph has long been on the decline – Mazzarri. The Italian did manage Napoli ten years ago in what was a memorable period for the club, but his most recent posting had seen him fail at Cagliari.
There was also a tactical disconnect. De Laurentiis was keen on hiring a manager who used a 4-3-3 system, but Mazzarri is known for a structured 3-5-2 shape, thereby rendering the choice to be incredibly strange.
The Osimhen controversies
The season has never been short of controversy, essentially shifting everyone’s focus to off-field activities.
Back in September, the club’s own social media account posted a video mocking Osimhen and it even carried racist undertones. It soon went viral, leading to the Nigerian’s agent Roberto Calenda condemning it publicly. This came amidst talk of a new deal and amidst the controversy, there was talk that this might impact the relationship between the two parties.
The club did apologise but it left a bitter taste in everyone’s mouths, considering how the season was already starting to pan out. More recently, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s agent Mamuka Jugeli spoke to a Georgian journalist, stating that Osimhen will join a Saudi Arabian club in the summer, for the money, even though he had eventually signed a new deal with Napoli.
The striker, the very next day, took aim. In an Instagram story, he said: “Dear Mamuka Jugeli, you are a piece of filth and a disgrace. I’m embarrassed at your sense of reasoning. Dumbf—! Keep my name out of your mouth!”
Osimhen’s agent Calenda also released a statement, lambasting Jugeli’s comments in what became a mini-media feud involving the club’s two star players, thus becoming the perfect encapsulation of the problems at the Maradona, in eyes of the watching public.
(Images from IMAGO)
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