After a 33 year wait the Scudetto is finally back in Naples thanks to a stunning Serie A campaign which was totally dominated by I Partonepei.
With a spectacular set of Serie A 2023 results Napoli ran away with the league title and the celebrations in Naples lasted for days. But how did the team which has come in second so often finally break though the barrier so easily?
Let’s look back over an amazing nine months at the Diego Maradona Stadium and see just why I Partonepei got it so right.
Summer 2022
A Napoli legend left the club in the summer of 22, and many a tear was shed as Lorenzo Insigne departed for pastures new. After making 337 appearances for the Naples club and scoring 97 goals, the attacking midfielder headed to Toronto in the MLS. How he would have loved to have lifted the Scudetto in his 15 years with the club he served with such honour, but Insigne paved the way for the new generation.
Napoli, with Luciano Spalletti at the helm, recruited brilliantly. In came Giacomo Raspadori from Sassuolo, and Tanguy Ndombele from Spurs, both important players during the 2022/23 campaign; but the signing which made the biggest difference was the 11.5m Euros capture of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia from Dinamo Batumi. The 22 year old winger has filled the gap left by Insigne quite brilliantly, scoring 12 goals and making ten assists. Christened ‘Kvaradona’ by the Napoli faithful, in honour of the great Diego Maradona, the Georgian has helped to usher in a new and glorious era in Naples.
Spalletti’s Tactical Evolution
Italian football has, for many years, been famed for its organisational prowess and tough defenders. But the sport has moved on, and while there is still a big role for the warriors of the game, the attacking players have become more creative and more fluid in their play.
Spalletti has been a keen exponent of the flexible style which has served I Partenopei so well. He plays a 4-3-3 system which can quickly switch to 4-1-4-1. But back in October the head coach revealed his belief that systems in football no longer have the upper hand, and teams should look to take advantage of spaces through a fluid approach to the game.
But, while the system is no longer rigid, every player knows his job and there is a clear strategy in Napoli’s play. They play out from the back and can show great patience, using the goalkeeper as a sweeper and keeping possession for as long as it takes for the opposition to lose some shape and open up the smallest of spaces. Using quick passing movements, in diamonds and triangles, which keep the opponents running; when Napoli reach the final third they strike like a cobra.
The Big Players
This was a spectacular year for striker Victor Osimhen who is on target to win the Capocannoniere, and it’s fully deserved by the man who spent much of the 2021/22 campaign sidelined. Osimhen will be the subject of frenzied transfer speculation over the summer but the Nigerian hit man says he loves it in Naples. We’ll be tracking all the big summer moves here at SBOTOP and Napoli fans will be keen to see their best players again at the start of the 2023/24 campaign.
Kvaratskhelia too has played a massive role and has exceeded all expectations to multiply his value quite spectacularly. The signing of the Georgian may well be the most successful in Europe.
Following the departure of Insigne, Giovanni Di Lorenzo has taken over the captaincy and the wing-back has led the team superbly, bringing calm to the defence and joining the front six in the quick passing movements, often moving into an inverted role when Napoli are on the front foot.
And the steel comes from Slovakian Stanislav Lobotka who, at 28 years of age is in his prime as a defensive midfielder, ready to break up play and launch Napoli attacks.
The Key Moments
Napoli made a statement on the opening day of the campaign with a 5-2 win away to Hellas Verona, with five different scorers. Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia and Lobotka were all on target as well as Piotr Zieleinski and Matteo Politano and then, on 18th September, I Partenopei beat Scudetto holders AC Milan in their own back yard.
From that moment on Spalletti’s team were title contenders.
Another huge statement came in January when Napoli hammered Juventus 5-1 as Osimhen scored a brace. I Bianconeri will probably finish second but, at that moment they knew the Scudetto was beyond them.
As the last quarter of the campaign approached, a week after losing to Lazio, Napoli went away to Atalanta and won 2-0 to allay any fears of a wobble. When they beat Juventus 1-0 on 23rd April the Serie A 2023 betting odds all but handed the Scudetto to Spalletti and his men. But the job was finally done at Udinese as a goal from Osimhen gave Napoli a 1-1 draw which was enough to win the title.
A fantastic achievement, from one of Italy’s very best teams of the 21st century.
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
