Neopolitan Lemons Make Limoncello
African brawn, Italian engineering. Spalletti drives Napoli back to the top of Serie A.
Relentless, electrifying and superb are all justifiable superlatives when it comes to describing Luciano Spalletti’s first eight matches of the Serie A campaign.
Victor Osimhen’s 81st minute winner against Torino keeps his side two points clear at the top. While it’s too early to dream for Napoli fans, an invincible start to the season has whet the appetites of the Azzurri faithful.
Yet, considering their lack of summer transfer spending, what’s driven the Partenopei’s success?
Big signings? Aurelio De Laurentis opted for frugality. His club let go of more experience than it brought in. Tiemoue Bakayoko rejoined AC Milan after Napoli sporting director, Cristiano Giuntoli, decided that the Frenchman wasn’t the right fit.
Defenders Nikola Maksimovic and Elseid Hysaj were not offered new contracts so 21-year-old Alessandro Zanoli was added to Spalletti’s squad. The former Roma coach was also compelled to sign Juan Jesus on a free transfer. The Brazilian, serving as a backup defender, has played one solitary minute as a token late substitution.
Prayers? Although the home stadium has been renamed in honour of the late Diego Armando Maradona, we can rule out divine intervention. No hand of God was involved.
The luxury of choosing from a full squad? Quite the opposite.
In goal, Alex Meret and David Ospina have both missed multiple games. Piotr Zielinski endured a temporary setback after picking up a knock in the first round against Venezia.
Faouzi Ghoulam has been unavailable since March and the club’s record goalscorer Dries Mertens made his first appearance on Match Day 7. The Belgian was back to his best against the Granata last night.
Spalletti’s biggest problem was in the midfield.
Diego Demme, arguably the Azzurri’s dominant pivot of 2020/21, was butchered during a friendly match with Pro Vercelli in July and sustained significant knee ligament damage. The German returned two months later as a substitute against Cagliari.
Stanislav Lobotka unexpectedly shone during the preseason thanks to solid performances and a noticeably fitter waistline, but the Slovak was injured while on international duty in September and hasn’t played since.
So due to the dearth of fit midfield options at Napoli, André-Frank Zambo Anguissa was loaned in from Fulham. Some may call it the masterstroke of Luciano Spalletti’s tenure to date.
Just €600,000 was spent to secure the Cameroonian’s services, the only transaction paid for any new Napoli player during the summer of 2021.
Meanwhile, Jose Mourinho’s Roma spent €83m and even Milan, Juventus and Inter — Serie A’s wannabe fiscal conservatives — shelled out more than over €30m each on acquisitions.
Just as my Nonno Cesare would have said in his broken English, “Save-a the money e work-eh hard”. And that’s exactly what Giuntoli did.
Anguissa’s first task would be a starting midfield role against Juventus, and what a debut it was. Silky skills, outstanding mobility and a cool head indicated that this was money well spent.
Juve simply couldn’t deal with the African pivot, who played all ninety minutes against La Vecchia Signora and hasn’t missed a Serie A minute since.
Quite a stunning introduction to life in Italy, considering Anguissa’s first training session at Castel Volturno was three days prior to his impending duel with Manuel Locatelli.
So, with a growing injury toll, and a pittance spent, Napoli is the immovable object at the summit of Italian club football.
This is nothing new for Aurelio De Laurentis. Other than Juventus, Napoli has accrued the most Serie A points over the past decade, including four second-place finishes, and has four Cup wins to boast about as well.
Not bad for a small club that played lower division football until 2007.
Despite Calcio throwing lemons at Giuntoli and Spalletti, the Tuscan duo made Limoncello…
…perhaps inspired by their regional surroundings in the Gulf of Naples. If only I could order a stash for myself.
While Victor Osimhen has been instrumental in Napoli’s surge to the top, credit must also be given to the Napoli hierarchy for resisting the urge to bring in big names like Emerson Palmieri.
Spalletti instead showed faith in two players previously unwanted by Gennaro Gattuso as Kevin Malcuit and Adam Ounas returned from loan spells.
Mario Rui has found confidence and form since the managerial change, his precise free kick - to the head of Giovanni Di Lorenzo - against Torino was nothing short of special.
Luciano Spalletti has, so far, been a great success, engineering Napoli’s drive to the top of the Classifica.
Thankfully, Kalidou Koulibaly wasn’t sold and now the Senegalese can work more of his African wonders alongside Victor Osimhen, and of course, the Azzurri’s latest Orisha, Andre-Franck Zambo Anguissa.
The spine of Napoli is African. That’s something to celebrate during Black History Month.
Festeggiamo che fino ad ora, tutti bravi a Napoli.
READ MORE FROM DAVID
Junior Messias to Milan: The Heavenly Scalata
Juventus: Decade of Domination
Diary of an Italy Fan at Wembley
Would Italy Have Won the Euros in 2020?
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