“Napoli can win everything”
A Brescian by birth, who lives in Bergamo Alta but is Neapolitan inside, how does he behave in the face of such a reality?
«He becomes more realistic than the king, despite all the lessons he has received on superstition in my long Neapolitan life. You don’t hear me say that the scudetto is won but you won’t stop me from thinking it and keeping it to myself. And it’s not just for those thirteen points advantage».
What does the coach who wraps Napoli in the Italian flag for the first time think of his probable successors?
«All of which were great. We are faced with an enterprise that is not a miracle, because in this absolute domain there is the competence, the clear strength of the Project, which in many cases seems like a term used to make a scene and which in this circumstance is the right word . And then it’s not always said that playing well gets you the best results, even if that’s still the best way, but this time it’s happening».
What has Bianchi been impressed by in recent months?
«From the courage to believe in oneself, because last July no one dared suspect that a masterpiece of this kind would emerge. Via Ospina, Koulibaly, Fabian Ruiz, Insigne and Mertens and space for players who went to find where others had not had the ability to go. An enormous risk, if you think about it, which reproduced an intelligent model of football. Because something else must also be said, for example: that Napoli up there hasn’t been there since today but for quite a while».
And who has been going to Europe for thirteen years…
«He didn’t win and patience. I am not a man who makes judgments based on results. But here they have built something unique. There is a wonderful group, you perceive it by looking at the attitudes of those on the bench, of those who are replaced, and this is thanks to Spalletti. They looked for talented and functional players, not ordinary figures, we are on extraordinary levels, and Giuntoli and those in the scouting area did this. And then they elevated the club to the ranks of the best: never an economic difficulty, always far-sighted, salaries paid regularly, balance sheets in order, no malfunctions, and here De Laurentiis must be applauded».
Choose a reference character within this team.
«Criticism is rightly exalted by Osimhen, who scores goals to be enjoyed once and even ten times; or she is enchanted by the evolutions of Kvaratskhelia, which he makes dream. But as a coach, I love the chemistry of football, the ability to express the concept of team, and so there’s a lot of Spalletti right now. There is a fantastic climate, no controversy from those who leave and the joy and determination that those who enter».
We don’t ask you for unthinkable comparisons with your 1987 triumph…..
«And it seems clear to me. Thirty-six years have passed since my Naples; and I don’t even want to know how many have flown away since I was playing at San Paolo instead. But it would be like thinking of being able to mirror the Formula 1 of the past and that of today, with cars and even tracks distorted. I had a collaborator with me, the goalkeeper coach and the athletic one, who mainly dealt with the recovery of the injured. Now there are decision making staffs of people. Players now follow them not only with scouts but with vids eo. And let’s forget the power supply. There are computers, the universe has changed, there is technology that supports it, but this is a simple annotation, I’m not underlining the differences».
It is also impossible to go down in the comparison between individuals, it would be a misleading exercise.
«For one thing and obviously leaving out Maradona. Now we apply ourselves to any similarities between Osimhen and Careca, which cannot be found. They are center forwards from distant eras, with a football that has changed connotations. Osimhen gives the impression that in his modernity he ignores space, considers it superfluous, because he is always the one who takes possession of it. And Careca, with those feet, instead felt the need for dialogue with his peers, he wanted companions who addressed the pallorno».
Things are happening that the humans…
«Thirteen points from the second have pierced an abyss. And, believe me, without wanting to be exaggerated, I suspect that this margin could expand further. Behind them all collapsed, each with its own weaknesses: there are those who have structural defects, those who have lost their way, those who have suffered the World Cup, those who have a short squad or miss the decisive match. But this element doesn’t reduce Napoli’s merits, if anything it expands them further for all that we have underlined previously».
And there’s a spectacular figure, then…
«Maybe I’m caught up in the feeling, but watching them play conquers you. It’s a simply perfect machine that by fusing the various structures – the managerial ones with the technical ones – has generated this kind of monster. It makes me imagine that the championship could end very soon, even arithmetically, because I don’t know how the others get close».
Naples, Spain crazy about Osimhen
Does this condition of superiority lead to letting go?
«With the humility you can see in anyone’s eyes, with that attitude you notice when Osimhen has to give way to Simeone and Kvara has to do the same with Raspadori. This is a force that can open any goal. No form of stardom, nothing».
Yesgge an allusion in this sentence that tastes like Champions.
«And why shouldn’t a team that plays at these levels and at these paces make it? Who in Europe shows all this potential? There are big players who are in trouble, and perhaps it was also the fault of the break, while Napoli simply destroyed the championship after losing in Milan. It narrowed it down to the Bundesliga of a few seasons ago, when Bayern celebrated a month early and never gave their opponents a chance to think they could collapse. The Champions League is a possibility, of course».
AND’ another Naples compared to 87.
«Because people have learned to live in such a dimension, without even putting excesses into it. De Laurentiis’ Napoli has never had to suffer real crises and bear the fear of being able to recede or remain anonymous. This cycle has definitively broken with precariousness, it has given stability, and created a maturity that is also felt in attitudes and makes Naples a city in love with its team».
The prudent would say, there are eighteen days to go.
«It is a moment to live, an idyll to savour. The technical feats leave their mark on you, look at how Osimhen’s goal was born and how he then embellished it. What about Georgian? And Meret who was questioned for a while and instead stands there and solves the complicated stages of a game with the saves you need? And those three in midfield? And the defenders. And the so-called bench players? But is there more to add…?».
Do it if you want…
«There has never been such a domain at a technical, tactical, organisational, behavioral and environmental level. The sense of the club that rightly becomes a priority; the collective that prevails over the needs of the individual, and in this football where a player is a company, this becomes a relevant, decisive, exemplary aspect».
She liked Naples-Rome.
«Full of technical and pure competitive things. A lot of pressure, which however did not prevent important gestures. The will to win of Spalletti’s boys, who wanted to win after the draw».
Like a team of cannibals….
«Only men in charge. Coppi’s cycling metaphor then appeared to Merckx: when he was there, the others simply ran for second place and often, in the great stage races, it was understood from the first day that there would be no other leader who it wasn’t Eddy. He’s going the same way in this year’s championship».