SSC Napoli

[LFTWNG11]

I think you'll find ALL Nap fans will be doing cartwheels if we finish 3rd behind the two milanese clubs
dont be surprised if we pull offf a surprise of all surprises at the San Siro come Tuesday morning...

Third would be an outstanding acheivement, for Lazio and Napoli alike.

But don't be suprised when Lazio towel you up next weekend

[Blue Mastiff]

In season gone thus far

Milan have failed to score on only 3 occasions
Napoli have failed to score on only 3 occasions
Inter have failed to score on only 5 occasions
Lazio have failed to score on only 5 occasions

Milan have not conceded a goal on 12 occasions
Napoli have not conceded a goal on 14 occasions
Inter have not conceded a goal on 7 occasions
Lazio have not conceded a goal on 11 occasions

Inter went 13 games in a row where they conceded to opposition teams

Napoli went 12 games in a row where in 10 of those games kept the opposition scoreless.

[LFTWNG11]

In season gone thus far

Milan have failed to score on only 3 occasions
Napoli have failed to score on only 3 occasions
Inter have failed to score on only 5 occasions
Lazio have failed to score on only 5 occasions

Milan have not conceded a goal on 12 occasions
Napoli have not conceded a goal on 14 occasions
Inter have not conceded a goal on 7 occasions
Lazio have not conceded a goal on 11 occasions

Inter went 13 games in a row where they conceded to opposition teams

Napoli went 12 games in a row where in 10 of those games kept the opposition scoreless.

Lazio have taken 3 points off Napoli this season.
Napoli have taken 0 points off Lazio this season.

[bapa]

I think you'll find ALL Nap fans will be doing cartwheels if we finish 3rd behind the two milanese clubs
dont be surprised if we pull offf a surprise of all surprises at the San Siro come Tuesday morning...

Third would be an outstanding acheivement, for Lazio and Napoli alike.

But don't be suprised when Lazio towel you up next weekend

oh, please. How much i would love u to have egg on ur face!

[LFTWNG11]

I think you'll find ALL Nap fans will be doing cartwheels if we finish 3rd behind the two milanese clubs
dont be surprised if we pull offf a surprise of all surprises at the San Siro come Tuesday morning...

Third would be an outstanding acheivement, for Lazio and Napoli alike.

But don't be suprised when Lazio towel you up next weekend

oh, please. How much i would love u to have egg on ur face!

So what?! If Napoli manage to fluke a victory this weekend, I will cop it sweet.

[El Pibe D'Oro]

I think you'll find ALL Nap fans will be doing cartwheels if we finish 3rd behind the two milanese clubs
dont be surprised if we pull offf a surprise of all surprises at the San Siro come Tuesday morning...

Third would be an outstanding acheivement, for Lazio and Napoli alike.

But don't be suprised when Lazio towel you up next weekend :wink:

Napoli vs Lazio April 3rd.

[LFTWNG11]

Napoli vs Lazio April 3rd.

I have no idea why I thought it was Napoli this weekend and not Cagliari

[bapa]

Napoli vs Lazio April 3rd.

I have no idea why I thought it was Napoli this weekend and not Cagliari

premature ejaculation, maybe???



ps, i was referring to that game, not this weekend!

I will be very happy with a draw this weekend, tbh!

[El Matador CAVANI]

doesnt seem to be any TV coverage of Villareal - Napoli this Friday morning

can anyone find out?

or we have to stream it maybe

[bapa]

doesnt seem to be any TV coverage of Villareal - Napoli this Friday morning

can anyone find out?

or we have to stream it maybe

setanta???

[El Pibe D'Oro]

Ruiz to start tomorrow against Villareal.

Does anyone know if ESPN or SBS are showing the game?

[bapa]

Milan V Napoli, tuesday morning on one????

[bapa]

Ruiz to start tomorrow against Villareal.

Does anyone know if ESPN or SBS are showing the game?

YES

espn showing Villareal V Napoli, 6.30am

[Blue Mastiff]

The danger of being (at times) a low scoring team is a situation like this: Napoli has to generate an away goal or the best they can do is take Villarreal to a shootout. On top of that, Villarreal is taking the Europa League very seriously, as they believe themselves to be one of the stronger teams in Europe’s 2nd tier competition. Striker Nilmar has even said it will be the game of the season for them. Napoli needs to be alert, and they will probably have to make adjustments as the game goes on. But it can be done.

One of the reasons Nilmar and his teammates attach such importance to this game is that Villarreal are winless in four. Here are their last four results, starting with most recent:

Villarreal 1 Malaga 1
Napoli 0 Villarreal 0
Deportivo La Coruna 1 Villarreal 0
Villarreal 0 Levante 1

One goal in four games is a terrible return, especially when you look at the quality of La Liga teams they’ve faced. Malaga, Depor, and Levante are 20th (last), 13th, and 17th respectively.

The home loss to Levante was their first home setback of the season. However, the one thing that concens me is that Villarreal are comfortably in the top 4, with an 8 point lead over 5th place Athletic (shockingly that’s Athletic Bilbao, not Atletico Madrid) In other words, although Villarreal dropped from 3rd to 4th during their winless run maybe they haven’t been taking La Liga seriously. Maybe they’ve taken it easy in February with the intention of surprising Napoli at el Madrigal where they begin even on aggregate. Villa’s next La Liga opponent is Racing Santander, another team that isn’t one of Spain’s powerhouses. Napoli meanwhile have a 1st vs 2nd battle on Monday night against one of the richest clubs in Europe.

So I have no idea which Villarreal team will show up – the one that’s been struggling for about a month now, or the team that played its way into 3rd place in La Liga earlier in the season. Here is the predicted Villarreal lineup, with Cani replacing Marcos Senna as captain.

Diego Lopez – Mario Gaspar, Gonzalo, Marchena, Capdevila – Cazorla, Borja Valero, Bruno, Cani – Nilmar, Rossi

For Napoli there are rumours that Cavani will start on the bench so he isn’t tired for the Milan contest. In the past couple of games he has looked average, including missing a penalty against Catania. This goes against the proverb that you have to put your strongest team out in the most important games. But like I said in the review of the 1st leg, managing could determine the overall winner, especially if the game remains scoreless into the second half and extra time. What’s the point of playing Cavani from the start if you’re going to lose in extra time due to fatigue anyways? Then there’s just 3 days rest before AC Milan on Monday. I’m not saying that Cavani should start on the bench, but there are good reasons if a manger decides to rotate his squad a little. It’s a big risk but it could be a better alternative than playing all your cards at the beginning and then not having an ace in the hand for later on.

Campagnaro and Cannavaro are set to anchor the defence, with Ruiz possibly making his first appearance in a Napoli jersey. Campagnaro has said he’s comfortable on the left, but I’d rather have him on the right where he’s worked with Maggio not only at Napoli but before at Sampdoria. If Ruiz doesn’t play, presumably Campagnaro would go to the left and maybe Santacroce on the right?

The midfield is set with Maggio, Pazienza, Gargano, and Dossena ready to go. Gargano and Dossena came on as subs against Catania, while Pazienza didn’t play a full 90 minutes. This is Napoli’s best 4 man midfield unit, and they shouldn’t be overly tired.

Up front Lavezzi did not play against Catania and is raring to go. Hamsik should start as well, leaving Cavani as the odd man out in case Mazzarri decides to rotate. I’m hoping to see this lineup:

De Sanctis – Campagnaro, Canna, Ruiz – Maggio, Pazienza, Gargano, Dossena – Hamsik, Lavezzi – Cavani

If Cavani is rested it would probably be Mascara coming in, with Lavezzi moving to prima punta.

The Pazienza Situation

There are rumours that Pazienza has already agreed to a 3 year contract with Genoa when his current deal expires in June (I haven’t confirmed the expiry date of Pazienza’s contract but I’m assuming it’s next summer since he’s being linked with Genoa)


The big question is why is Napoli not interested (at least not publicly) about renewing Pazienza’s contract? My answer is that tactically he isn’t very flexible. He’s basically a poor man’s Makelele. He sits in front of the back four, runs around and wins loose balls and makes one metre passes to a teammate. As Makelele proved, that role is essential to a working midfield and by extension a winning team. But Pazienza is 29 years old, and I don’t think Napoli want another Blasi situation where a veteran player is being well paid but can’t fight off competition. Incidentally does anyone know when Blasi’s contract expires? He was one of Napoli’s highest paid midfielders and when his deal runs out it will free up some money for Napoli to spend. And as we all know, Napoli has been coveting Gokhan Inler for some time. Inler is a bit more versatile than Pazienza, and at 26 is a few years younger. For Napoli fans who will be disappointed if Pazienza leaves, just think of it this way: Napoli had Pazienza for his prime years, and he was depedable, very good, but never really great. Although he’s a good athlete, and like Grava he could still be fit for Serie A at 34, his role can be covered by someone younger and with more skill going forward.

But all this is just based on a single rumour, and for all I know Pazienza will re-sign and Inler won’t be brought in.

Kickoff for the Round of 16 second leg is 3:00 pm Eastern time, 12:00 Pacific, and 21:00 Italy, 20:00 UK/Ireland. I have not been able to find any North American TV coverage, at least not something I could get at a local bar. So I will be watching a live internet stream, which I will post once I’ve found a good one. That’s all from me, but if you have any thoughts on the game the comments section is all yours. Forza Napoli, and if we do advance we can look forward to Bayer Leverkusen.

[El Matador CAVANI]

awesome news that ESPN are covering it!

Pazienza - it'll be very sad to see him leave, he's put he's heart and soul into the team the last few years, last year he was fairly average but this year he's been very very good, alot better than Gargano in my opinion.

If he's wages are not high, (which i doubt they'd be that high) and IF we make champions league, we'll need Inler-Garg-Yebda and Pazienza to rotate...

blasi's contract runs out this summer as well im pretty sure...he's a basket case gets cards too easily like round 1!

on tomorrow mornings game, i'd be more than happy for Cavani to rest and bring him on in the 60th or something like that

we are not a team (not usually) that concedes much so at worst case we may be 1-0 down by that stage more likely it'll be 0-0

lavezzi can play prima punta like he did last year and mascara and marekiaro in behind.

your thoughts on Sosa? to me he's woeful in AM position, if anything he might be good as DM as he's passing and skills are good

[getborn]

Villarreal 2 - 1 Napoli
Hamsik 18 (N), Nilmar 42 (V), Rossi 45+1 (V)
El Madrigal

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Napoli were very unlucky to lose 2-1 at Villarreal after Marek Hamsik gave them the lead and they rattled the woodwork twice. They go out of the Europa League despite giving the Spaniards a real scare on their own turf.

Walter Mazzarri said he would be rotating the squad ahead of Monday's Scudetto showdown with Milan and was true to his word. Top scorer Edinson Cavani was benched along with Paolo Cannavaro and Christian Maggio, while the defence was totally revamped after Salvatore Aronica's ban. Ezequiel Lavezzi moved to a more advanced centre-forward role. Villarreal were pulling no punches and fielded a full-strength side after the 0-0 draw in the first leg.

The Spaniards were confident, as after four home games in the Europa League they had a 100 per cent record with 11 goals scored and only one conceded.

Lavezzi wasted a golden opportunity to give Napoli the lead after six minutes, as he sprung the offside trap and was totally unmarked in the centre, but prodded Andrea Dossena's through ball wide of the far post.

Diego Lopez had to tear off his line to clear after Lavezzi out-sprinted Capdevila. A Juan Zuniga cross from the right was ballooned over by Gonzalo to prevent Lavezzi getting the tap-in.

The pressure paid off, as Napoli scored from the resulting corner kick. Lavezzi whipped in the cross and found Marek Hamsik's diving header from eight yards. The Slovak timed his run well to surprise the Villarreal defence. Napoli fans rather over-celebrated at the touchline and broke the fence dividing them from the pitch, prompting three supporters to be carried away by medical staff.

Villarreal hit back, as a relatively poor Morgan De Sanctis punch found Borja Valero outside the box to volley inches wide. The goalkeeper was furious moments later when he gathered a loose ball and Nilmar left his foot in a little longer than was entirely necessary.

Borja Valero had another long-range effort after the Partenopei lost the ball in the final third, but on the counter Lavezzi ran from his own half only to fire straight at the goalkeeper!

From another counter, Diego Lopez fumbled a Hasan Yebda screamer for a corner. Emilson Cribari did well to charge down Giuseppe Rossi's attempt in the area, and a weak Nilmar header was into the hands of De Sanctis.

Villarreal were piling on the pressure and equalised just before the break. It was a well-worked move and a slide-rule pass from Borja Valero allowed Nilmar to get down the right, placing an angled drive across De Sanctis.

In first half stoppages, a stroke of luck allowed Villarreal to turn the game around completed. Yebda was dispossessed in the centre circle and Borja Valero dorve forward to set up Rossi, but the shot took a clear deflection off Zuniga to loop over a helpless De Sanctis into the near top corner. Mazzarri was furious, as he felt there was a foul on Yebda to begin the move.

Santi Cazorla blasted over on the counter after the restart, though Diego Lopez ran a big risk when trying to dribble clear of Lavezzi. Cavani was introduced for Sosa to restore Napoli's usual trident attack, although the Uruguayan moved to the left flank, leaving Lavezzi as centre-forward.

Musacchio's last-ditch tackle stopped Lavezzi at the by-line as he ran on to Cavani's through ball and from the corner El Matador's header whistled wide.

Lavezzi and Zuniga had three shots charged down in the same move, but at the other end Cani's rising strike from a tight angle flashed inches over the bar.

Cavani had a fantastic opportunity on 65 minutes when he sprang the offside trap from Lavezzi's pass for a sensational right-foot half-volley, but it zipped past Diego Lopez to cannon off the far post!

At the other end, Nilmar pounced on a Michele Pazienza error to go clear, but a perfectly-timed sliding challenge managed to intercept the shot from nine yards.

Cavani's deflected shot was fingertipped on to the roof of the net, then El Matador had a magnificent overhead kick that skimmed the crossbar from Zuniga's assist.

Nilmar took a tumble in the box and was booked for simulation, as he jumped over a trailing leg.

Napoli rattled the woodwork for the second time, as Lavezzi tried to curl it in directly from the corner flag and cracked his effort against the near post.

The hosts were getting worried and made a series of defensive substitutions for the final stages, while Napoli threw on Giuseppe Mascara for defender Cribari. Zuniga's low ball to Victor Ruiz was well intercepted before he could tap in from six yards.

Another great Cavani half-volley was well-caught by Diego Lopez, knowing a 2-2 draw would send Napoli through on away goals. There were four minutes of stoppages, but they could not find a way through at the Madrigal, as Cavani's header wide was the last kick of the game.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Villarreal: Diego Lopez; Mario Gaspar, Gonzalo, Musacchio, Capdevila; Santi Cazorla (Catala' 78), Bruno Soriano, Borja Valero, Cani (Gullon 80); Rossi (Marco Ruben 89), Nilmar

Napoli: De Sanctis; Campagnaro, Cribari (Mascara 82), Ruiz; Zuniga, Gargano, Yebda (Pazienza 64), Dossena; Sosa (Cavani 53), Hamsik; Lavezzi

[dinozoff]

reading the comentry i thought we would get up for sure, guess it wasnt meant to be

[bapa]

reading the comentry i thought we would get up for sure, guess it wasnt meant to be

I thought u were a juventino???


neways, not all gloom and doom. Napoli can focus on the scudetto now, so leaving europe at this stage is not a bad thing!

[LFTWNG11]

reading the comentry i thought we would get up for sure, guess it wasnt meant to be

I thought u were a juventino???


neways, not all gloom and doom. Napoli can focus on the scudetto now, so leaving europe at this stage is not a bad thing!

[dinozoff]

reading the comentry i thought we would get up for sure, guess it wasnt meant to be

I thought u were a juventino???


neways, not all gloom and doom. Napoli can focus on the scudetto now, so leaving europe at this stage is not a bad thing!

corection was.... i was always a napoli fan but they where in the seria b so i wanted to follow someone in the seria a as well but as soon as napoli got promoted i dropped them like a rag

as fare as i could tell (reading the live commentary at work) as soon as cavani came on i thought we where going to score 2 for sure. but then again like you said we can really concentrate on the scudetto now. lavezzi sounded like he was a little off beat today?

[getborn]

hamsik goal & celebration.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/M_omaQQwXI8

[bapa]

reading the comentry i thought we would get up for sure, guess it wasnt meant to be

I thought u were a juventino???


neways, not all gloom and doom. Napoli can focus on the scudetto now, so leaving europe at this stage is not a bad thing!

whats so funny ?

[Blue Mastiff]

No dramas here.

Getting knocked out here or losing the Europa final is the same thing.

With any competiton its the winner that counts.

A bit tough coming up against Villarreal and then Bayer Leverkusen if we had progressed but thats the luck of the draw i suppose.

Mazzari played his cards correctly AGAIN and were unlucky to concede in extra time of the first half.

To get a result like that in Spain with the amount of games that we have been playing and minus Cavani, Cannavaro, and Maggio was a testament to our squad.

Any Nap fan on this site would rather exit Europa and put all their energies into the Seria A and A mounth watering fixture vs AC Milan awaits us come Tuesday Morning.

A positive result vs AC Milan and home wins vs Brescia and Cagliari would set us up for a fantastic last 8 rounds and great shot at the ultimate prize which is the scudetto.

Lets not forget that Milan, Inter and Roma all lost at home in Europe.

[LFTWNG11]

whats so funny ?

Pretty obvious I am laughing at you.

[bapa]

whats so funny ?

Pretty obvious I am laughing at you.

pretty sad, but u are a laziomerda..........

[Chelsea4thewin]

No dramas here.

Getting knocked out here or losing the Europa final is the same thing.

With any competiton its the winner that counts.

lol dont you make more money with crowds, tv rights etc etc if you stay in the competition

im sure the players would like to win a trophy as well

[Blue Mastiff]

Chelsea4thewin not looking at the bigger picture.

Sure all players want to win trophies.

We went in minus 3 of our best players.

Our coach rotated the squad with the Milan game in mind.

The side he put out on the paddock he felt was able to come away with a score draw.

If we were playing say Bari away this weekend im sure Cavani, Cannavaro, and Maggio would have started in Spain.

And the side that started in Spain would have started vs Bari.

Fact of the matter is that we face a Milan side that at their home ground has averaged 2 goals scored per game in the Serie A. We basically walk onto the pitch Tuesday Morning 0-2 so any positive result we get from this game will only keep us in good stead for the remainder of the Serie A Season.

for your comment on make more money with crowds, tv rights etc etc if you stay in the competition
its like someone going grocery shopping and saving $50 on their food bill, saving $100 on a purchase of a BBQ, finding a cheaper quote to do a landscaping job at home only to blow the savings on a $500 pair of shoes.

Bit like your purchase for Torres.

Id rather have a scudetto trophy in the cabinet rather than meet another strong european side (bayern) in the next round of europe, blog of matches that would stretch our Serie A aspirations just to show a few extra dollars in our bank account. Our crowds at home are up there with the best in Serie A.

The programming of europa matches on 10 and 17 march would mean another 5 matches in 14 days for Napoli.

We will let Milan, Roma and Inter worry about Europe (if theyre still there) as we go quitely about our business.

They have bigger squads that can rotate. Lets not forget about sides such as Lazio, Palermo, Udinese and Juve who are free of all European commitments and are all looking to pick up points to qualify for Champions League.

We can now start our full strength line up for the remaining games in Serie A games knowing we have options on the bench and our players are 100% rested.

Blessing in Disguise.

[redeye]

Chelsea4thewin not looking at the bigger picture.

Sure all players want to win trophies.

We went in minus 3 of our best players.

Our coach rotated the squad with the Milan game in mind.

The side he put out on the paddock he felt was able to come away with a score draw.

If we were playing say Bari away this weekend im sure Cavani, Cannavaro, and Maggio would have started in Spain.

And the side that started in Spain would have started vs Bari.

Fact of the matter is that we face a Milan side that at their home ground has averaged 2 goals scored per game in the Serie A. We basically walk onto the pitch Tuesday Morning 0-2 so any positive result we get from this game will only keep us in good stead for the remainder of the Serie A Season.

for your comment on make more money with crowds, tv rights etc etc if you stay in the competition
its like someone going grocery shopping and saving $50 on their food bill, saving $100 on a purchase of a BBQ, finding a cheaper quote to do a landscaping job at home only to blow the savings on a $500 pair of shoes.

Bit like your purchase for Torres.

Id rather have a scudetto trophy in the cabinet rather than meet another strong european side (bayern) in the next round of europe, blog of matches that would stretch our Serie A aspirations just to show a few extra dollars in our bank account. Our crowds at home are up there with the best in Serie A.

The programming of europa matches on 10 and 17 march would mean another 5 matches in 14 days for Napoli.

We will let Milan, Roma and Inter worry about Europe (if theyre still there) as we go quitely about our business.

They have bigger squads that can rotate. Lets not forget about sides such as Lazio, Palermo, Udinese and Juve who are free of all European commitments and are all looking to pick up points to qualify for Champions League.

We can now start our full strength line up for the remaining games in Serie A games knowing we have options on the bench and our players are 100% rested.

Blessing in Disguise.

Agree wholeheartedly

[bapa]

Chelsea4thewin not looking at the bigger picture.

Sure all players want to win trophies.

We went in minus 3 of our best players.

Our coach rotated the squad with the Milan game in mind.

The side he put out on the paddock he felt was able to come away with a score draw.

If we were playing say Bari away this weekend im sure Cavani, Cannavaro, and Maggio would have started in Spain.

And the side that started in Spain would have started vs Bari.

Fact of the matter is that we face a Milan side that at their home ground has averaged 2 goals scored per game in the Serie A. We basically walk onto the pitch Tuesday Morning 0-2 so any positive result we get from this game will only keep us in good stead for the remainder of the Serie A Season.

for your comment on make more money with crowds, tv rights etc etc if you stay in the competition
its like someone going grocery shopping and saving $50 on their food bill, saving $100 on a purchase of a BBQ, finding a cheaper quote to do a landscaping job at home only to blow the savings on a $500 pair of shoes.

Bit like your purchase for Torres.

Id rather have a scudetto trophy in the cabinet rather than meet another strong european side (bayern) in the next round of europe, blog of matches that would stretch our Serie A aspirations just to show a few extra dollars in our bank account. Our crowds at home are up there with the best in Serie A.

The programming of europa matches on 10 and 17 march would mean another 5 matches in 14 days for Napoli.

We will let Milan, Roma and Inter worry about Europe (if theyre still there) as we go quitely about our business.

They have bigger squads that can rotate. Lets not forget about sides such as Lazio, Palermo, Udinese and Juve who are free of all European commitments and are all looking to pick up points to qualify for Champions League.

We can now start our full strength line up for the remaining games in Serie A games knowing we have options on the bench and our players are 100% rested.

Blessing in Disguise.

Agree wholeheartedly

+1

[Blue Mastiff]

well thank you gentlemen