Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti believes you have to take risks to play the kind of football he wants, while opponents Atalanta ‘stand out’ like Liverpool and City. The Partenopei just edged out the hosts in a thrilling 2-1 victory in Bergamo, courtesy of a fantastic solo performance from Victory Osimhen. Speaking to DAZN after the game, Spalletti was keen to point out it was a tough but deserved win against a formidable team:
It was a difficult match, everyone said they were three huge points if we managed to win, but what we want to achieve means every three points are important. We just have to keep being ourselves and hopefully misplace fewer passes than we did today, but with the right attitude of trying to score and win the game.
I think Atalanta played a fantastic match, they are like Liverpool and Manchester City in standing out in the football world, because they present very clear ideas and approaches, so we all watch them.
This gives the dimension of how important taking three points away from here really was. My team is now accustomed to this kind of atmosphere, with these chants and difficulties, doing that calmly and playing the kind of football Napoli want to see.
To play attacking football, you have to take risks, but that is the life of a team that wants to play football.
Osimhen is a player who has these sudden surges and spurts, but he needs to every now and then also figure out how to pass it and work with his teammates. He was a little tired today, but still created chances, caused issues, and when Atalanta pushed their wingbacks higher with the strikers wide, he was alone in midfield and in those situations can do more than he did tonight.
Kvaratskhelia? He had this knock in the back from Trent Alexander-Arnold and seemed fine, but it got worse after a couple of days.
Fortunately, we have players who can fill in, so we decided to let him stay home and rest for a bit rather than drag him around the place on another journey.
We’ll get nowhere if we only have one player to rely on, we need 22 who can be relied upon at any moment.”
