Miralem Pjanic believes Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti chooses his players based on how well they perform, not the name on the shirt. The former Juve and Roma midfielder spoke to TuttoSport ahead of the Bianconeri’s trip to Naples and previewed the match, explaining how he thinks Juve should approach the game and why Spalletti is such a unique coach:
On the coaches@ You spoke at length about Allegri. Spalletti is very different….
‘I had the misfortune of only being able to work with coach Spalletti for six months (2015-16 season): it was a great pleasure to play in his team. It was a great six months because his football was so much fun. No wonder Napoli are doing so well now. As always: his teams are tough to play against and beautiful to watch. He’s an incredible coach, really very good. Napoli are deservedly first: they play great football both in the league and in Europe.
Spalletti’s greatest quality?
“His competence, his way of working the defensive and offensive phases. He manages to put the team on the pitch very well, he has prepared schemes, prepared movements. The players, in the game, know very well what they have to do. If everything goes smoothly in the match it’s because Spalletti prepares the group daily and meticulously. He demands a lot, but he also gives you a lot. Then he’s someone who doesn’t look at names. He doesn’t give a damn who you are: he looks at performances.”
To say that Allegri is better at managing minds and motivating while Spalletti is better at working on tactics is too simplistic or is there some truth in it?
“Well, the point is that anyway we are talking about two great coaches. Then, I can expound a little more on Allegri because I’ve worked a lot with him and I’ve won everything: he’s someone who wins. Full stop. With Spalletti I worked less with him, but even playing against him you feel exactly what you felt from the inside: a team that was always well set up on the pitch.
How will Allegri prepare for the match, in your opinion?
“The coach knows that there will be times to attack and times to defend. You can’t think that against Napoli everything will be easy, that you’ll be on the opposing pitch playing the game. You’re up against a strong and dangerous rival, first in the standings: the Azzurri go very fast up front, there’s Osimhen who always stretches teams, there’s Kvaratskhelia who makes the difference, there’s a good midfield with Lobotka, Zielinski, Anguissa… Lots of quality. It will be good to see how the two teams will handle the match. It will be the little details that will make it turn one way or the other. One thing Juventus are doing very well at the moment, however, is committing themselves and sacrificing themselves defensively: this is typical of Allegri’s teams who are compact and leave little space. Playing against us was very difficult: everyone made an effort and it became almost impossible for the others to find the gaps.”
Is there a favourite?
“No, I say 50/50. Although the pressure is on Napoli’s side. They lost points against Inter: that’s okay, for goodness sake, but if they want to keep this distance they must not leave anything on the road anymore otherwise they risk going into uncertainty and fear.”
