Walter Mazzarri tried to analyse Napoli’s 1-0 loss to Juventus, explaining what his team needed to do better. Federico Gatti put the home side ahead but Napoli had a few chances of their own to draw level. Speaking in a lengthy post-match interview, Mazzarri analysed the match as he saw it:
“Those who know football know that there are moments. To give an explanation after a game like that…. The boys played a great game, they dominated in my opinion on the level of play. They forced Juventus into the penalty area for almost the entire second half. They are good at paying attention to even the smallest detail, at the first cross, they man-mark, they are vehement. We just had the fault of not going to the trajectory of the ball on the goal and we lost the man in the box.
“I don’t think a team could do more than what Napoli did today. We tried them everything……I am convinced that if we play like this we can also make a string of results, which we deserve moreover.”
“I have just arrived, I was not here before and it is useless for me to talk about what happened. If everything was going well they would not have called me, I think, so some problem was there. I have seen this team, since I arrived, that has always played better than the others, played good football. Unfortunately it has the fault that in the matches we don’t score goals.
“Kvara’s chance is sensational, if we failed to score on that occasion you can tell it is a bad moment. I believe that if we continue on this path, when then the important players have also found a better condition, the lucidity in front of goal and all the useful components to win games will come for sure.”
“Kvaratskhelia nervous? This is true a little bit for everyone, when a team that is not used to winning a championship, the next year there are setbacks. Where you think, others study you, come at you, double up on you. You’re the center of attention, and in some games sometimes you can’t express yourself as calmly as you used to. But the boy is strong, let’s not forget that on the left we no longer have the full-backs who used to push up, who can take the man away from him, make him play more.
“In the end we were always on the right creating play and he is a little bit penalized by this aspect that we are a little bit in emergency. When Zanoli came in, who is on the role even though he struggles a bit more on the left, we already saw that he got free several times and did something more.”
“We lack that detail that makes a difference in these balanced matches against the big teams. The team even today did not make resounding counterattacks, we were shorter, it always attacks, it is well put together. Even against Juventus, which is a team of great counter-attackers, we took a couple of counter-attacks, buffered quite well, while other times chasms opened up.
“In short, so many things have been revised from how Napoli played last year. It is clear that some things need to be improved, including the condition of players who have been out. Even Osimhen was coming from a long injury, in short we have several issues and we are paying for them a little bit. I believe that if we can do well with Braga, qualify from the round and then focus on the championship, also recovering the full-backs we are missing, I think this team can only make a great championship from now on.”
“Osimhen? It is clear that they also have to find the best condition, he is being tarred, he is being marked. While the action was on one side you could see that they marked him even when the ball was far away. He has to be well, he will be the one who will give us even more and can make the difference for us. Of course, then there will be the African Cup of Nations, he will go away and we will have to do with the others, but I think he just has to come back in the best shape and he is a devastating player.”
“Is the Scudetto dream slipping away? When a coach comes to a club like this, where they have won, where they have done well, and if I arrived it means there were problems, he has to try to solve the problems and understand what they are. Once this team, as already today in my opinion absolutely didn’t deserve to lose, has found the balance, finds certain things again, also finds players that are missing, because without those you struggle more, I think it can also make an incredible string of results. It depends on us, and I am confident, there are many games and I don’t create problems for myself in terms of ranking or anything. Day after day we will do our best, I think it would also be right for the wheel to start turning on our side because today we absolutely did not deserve to lose.”
