New Napoli coach Francesco Calzona says action is needed, ahead of their Champions League with Barcelona on Wednesday evening. Calzona becomes the Partenopei’s third coach of the season, replacing Walter Mazzarri who was dismissed earlier this week. Speaking in the pre-match presser, the tactician explained his approach to managing Napoli and offered an update on his squad:
“Good evening, everyone. I wanted to start by thanking the Slovakian Federation, represented by President Kovacic, for granting me this opportunity to come to Napoli. I thank them immensely because the credit goes to them, to the players of the national team. And I also thank the Slovakian people because they have shown me great esteem.”
Regarding his message to the players, Calzona stated, “We start from today, we reset everything. A new journey begins, and I found a team that immediately made themselves available. Few words, because at this moment, we need actions. So, we spent very little time chatting and then immediately went onto the field.”
On the fans and Osimhen, he remarked, “It is clear that the Napoli fans are special. But more than asking things of them, we must be the ones to make them proud. So, the task is more for us than for them. We must make them happy with our performances and results from now on. Osimhen has trained; he trained with the team. Of course, it wasn’t a very long session because there were many things to do. However, he trained at full speed and will be evaluated like the rest of the team tomorrow morning after training.”
Asked about what can change for a coach in 24 hours, Calzona replied, “A coach can change little, but we don’t have time. We need to accelerate this learning process, so I told the players that we have no more excuses. We need to improve our position at this moment. It’s clear that Barcelona is a strong team; they’ve had some difficult moments, but they are a strong team, one of the strongest in Europe. So, clearly, we are not afraid because we are Napoli, but no one can deny that they have great players and a top coach.”
