Maurizio Sarri said his attack were not at their usual best after the normally ruthless Napoli trio of Lorenzo Insigne, Dries Mertens and Jose Callejon fired blank against a resilient and well organised Chievo rear-guard on Sunday afternoon.
Despite having over 70 percent possession against the Gialloblu, the Partenopei found life tough in Verona, and failed to fashion many clear cut chances, while Chievo had just one shot on target.
“Chievo never troubled us once today, but they were well organised and kept their shape well,” said the Napoli boss. “We are used to facing teams that set out to frustrate us.
“Unlike on other occasions though, this season we weren’t able to find a way through. Our front three were not as sharp as they normally are and we did not create as many chances as we normally do.”
“The midweek match versus Manchester City took a lot out of us both in terms of physical and mental energy.
“I think we recovered well though and that was clear from how we always maintained our shape as a team.
“We didn’t lose our way. But we inevitably paid the price for our midweek exertions. It was a similar situation when we faced Inter.”
When asked about Chievo frontman Roberto Inglese, who is on loan from Napoli, and has been linked with a move south in January, Sarri was coy, yet complimentary.
“I was to be honest more concerned about about the players I currently have available,” Sarri went on. “But Inglese did the best he could today. At times he was cut-off from his team-mates but it was not an easy game for him today.”
Despite dropping points on the road for the first time this season, Sarri tried to remain upbeat.
“I am obviously frustrated not to have won,” he continued. “We always want to win and have become accustomed to winning away from home. However, two years ago we might have ended up losing a match like this.”
