Rafael Benitez’s second season in charge of Napoli has not started off in a positive fashion whatsoever.
The Partenopei were eliminated in the UEFA Champions League play-offs by Spanish side Athletic Club and they have lost two of their first three Serie A fixtures afterwards. Although it is only the start of the season, Benitez’s side is under-performing and the Napoli tactician is responsible for this embarrassing start to the season.
Italian football fans and media alike have too easily and often pinpointed the failures of teams on the coach in the past, but Benitez has displayed a glaring inability to work with the players at his disposal so far in 2014-15.
Early signs of this Napoli crisis were apparent in their clashes against Athletic. In Naples, they looked dangerous when they kept possession and played at a high-tempo but Napoli squandered many goalscoring opportunities. Benitez’s side looked vulnerable at the back but worse was to come in Bilbao.
After taking a 1-0 lead early in the second half, Napoli committed defensive suicide. Aritz Aduriz was left free to run unmarked at the far post and tap in the equaliser. Then he put Athletic 2-1 up by pouncing on Raul Albiol’s inability to clear a long pass as well as Rafael Cabral’s horrendous charge off his line.
Ibai Gomez’s goal which made the final score 3-1 to Athletic in the second leg should have been disallowed for offside but it was still apparent that Napoli’s defence was too open and disorganised.
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This lack of form has spilled over in Napoli’s Serie A campaign and beating Sparta Prague 3-1 in the UEFA Europa League only masked those problems temporarily. Despite winning at the death against Genoa in Week 1, Napoli have lost against Chievo and Udinese by the solitary goal in each game.
As bad as Napoli’s defending has been, the goals have also dried-up for the Partenopei. Gonzalo Higuain, Jose Callejon and Dries Mertens have not been taking their chances and neither have Lorenzo Insigne, Marek Hamsik or Michu — who most infamously failed to pull the trigger against Athletic Bilbao.
It would be easy to blame a lack of finishing quality in front of goal for Napoli’s problems but that is not the only issue for Benitez’s side. Benitez’s preferred formation is the 4-2-3-1 and he wants his players to adapt to that system. It requires applying pressure on the opposition and moving the ball at a high tempo.
Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis did not spend much this summer. Instead of buying players like Marouane Fellaini and Javier Mascherano, he acquired Jonathan De Guzman and David Lopez. But a coach of Benitez’s reputation should be able to work with the players available and deploy them in roles that suit them. Playing centre-back Miguel Britos as a left-back has made very little sense.
When Walter Mazzarri coached Napoli, he had a set style of play and the players had to fit into his back-three system. Having said that, the 3-4-2-1 or 3-5-2 he employed in matches was ideal for the players at his disposal.
There were players who played under Mazzarri such as Morgan De Sanctis, Paolo Cannavaro, Salvatore Aronica and Andrea Dossena who raised a few eyebrows but Mazzarri still made Napoli a very competitive team.
Napoli won a Coppa Italia trophy, qualified for the second round of the UEFA Champions League, and finished second in Serie A under Mazzarri. Aside from winning the Coppa Italia in May, Benitez has not improved on the work Mazzarri did.
Benitez could still turn Napoli’s fortunes around, having won international trophies in the past even despite fans’ support and team’s poor league form.
At the moment however, Napoli does not pose a threat to Italy or Europe’s bigger clubs, a drop in status that Benitez must take responsibility for and hastily change.
Follow Vito Doria on Twitter: @VitoCDoria
