I'm glad we didn't lose, but you cant call what we are doing in the league just underachieving... we are dreadful
I liked what I saw. No teams come to Anfield and dictate play. Let's not forget Liverpool has beat Barcelona 4-0 here and Man City 3-1.
Yeah, it definitely shows that we still have a chance. If we can perform this well against Liverpool, we just have to be able to beat the smaller teams, and all we need is the recipe. So far we have come up with one that is useless as soon as we are a bit unlucky. I wonder where it will go from here.
Barca lost to Liverpool's reserves. It was a mental issue. They also lost to Roma the year before. We defended well and we always knew Meret, Manolas and Koulibaly with Allan in front of them give you that. Maksimovic added extra security. But in a game with 28% possession and 1 shot on target we can hardly say we played well. It's like all these poor Serie A teams coming to Napoli and just defending. Do we think they played well? Did Cagliari played well when they beat us? People should not get carried away. What did you see that you believe we will get 12 points from the next 4 league games?
We just collected 4 points against Liverpool.. 8/11 players that played against Barcelona were starters.. Alisson, Trent Alexander Arnold, VanDijk, Robertson, Henderson, Fabinho, Milner, and Mane. The 3 others were Matip, Shaqiri and Origi. We lost the possession score. We drew the game 1-1. Europe is all about results, why do you think the fans in Napoli were ecstatic? You really believe we should've tried to fight head to head for possession and scoring opportunities against one of the best if not the best counter attacking team in the world? How do you think Italian teams have won in the past? Juventus plays beautiful? Maybe this year with Sarri but with Allegri? No chance... They were clinical and defended hard. Some days you want beautiful soccer and other days you just want results. We got the result. You can't play beautiful and win every game. The players worked and sacrificed. They could've died at the tying goal, there was plenty of time for Liverpool to score a 2nd but they held strong and dug deep.
Credit where credit is due, Carlo got it spot on last night. I’ve got almost no complaints. Why we can’t do this on a weekly basis I’ll never know. I’ve always said this squad has massive potential, Sarri unlocked 90% of it, Carlo was supposed to unlock 100% but ended up unlocking 50%
No. You misunderstand my point. I know you can win in Europe like that. But we have major issues and for fans to get excited about this game is odd. I saw nothing that shows our problems are solved. We cannot go and beat Torino by playing like that. At best we get a 0-0 which is what we actually did.
Weekly defend with 10 men? I always agree with you but not on this one. Completely disagree with what you said.
We shouldn’t park the bus on a weekly basis but to come away with a draw at Anfield is impressive. My point is why can’t we defend this resolutely in the league? We always play so laissez faire and end up conceding cheap goals, this is clearly an issue of motivation
The point is we cannot create. Our defensive phase is poor when we attack, we know players like Meret, Koulibaly, Manolas and Allan and add to it Maksimovic will provide defensive cover if they just sit deep and defend. The game was a great defensive performance and the players fought. But what did we see that gives us comfort that we will do better in the league? We created one chance from which we scored. We barely attacked and could not pass the ball. In the game against Genoa players were fighting too, the problem is the lack of a system and I don't get comfort that is fixed because we defended well with 10 men in one game.
We missed like 10 good chances against Cagliari. How is creating one and scoring not a good omen for us? Anyway, each game is different and in the 21st century very few people believe in omens, but I agree with Prima: This team needs a different attitude and a different mentality, one that will produce intensity and hunger for more. People who say that we have done everything wrong so far have probably never watched football with their eyes open, either that or they like to repeat the phrases that the fans of every team say about their teams in almost every single game. That's how things like Sarritroll are invented. The fans recognize that Atalanta was better in every aspect of the game against Juve, both tactical or in terms of desire and skill, yet in the end Juve just massacred them all the same...
Oh I apologize I see what you mean. I also agree that we can't perform like that in Serie A, but we can make slight adjustments. With the 3 in the midfield I imagine we should dominate the midfield as we would no longer be outnumbered there. I'd also bring on Milik for Lozano as if they were to concede possession to us, we would have an outlet for if we were forced to cross the ball into. Milik despite not being very clinical is very good at getting himself into positions where he can score. He messes up a lot but he gets himself into good positions and if he had some confidence which I bet is extremely low at the moment, I feel he can produce 20 goals still from now until the end of the campaign. Defensively we will be solid with the 3 in the back, I would even suggest putting Callejon in DiLorenzo's position. Mario Rui is actually pretty good at going forward so I would keep him out wide just as extra support who can also help out in attack. The first we need to take to beating opponents is by not conceding. If we can keep the opposition at bay. (3 centre mids and 3 very strong cb's) we will control the game and have plenty of support on defence to prevent any counter attacks which has screwed us in the past. This is how Conte plays. He trusts his centre mids to control the tempo but he also has the support to outnumber their players in every area on the field. Our pressing even looked much better in a 3-5-2.
I am sorry for the long message that's about to come; Going into the final match day, we are 2nd in our group, a point behind Liverpool. We host Genk in the final Matchday and Liverpool will be travelling to Salzburg where it will be their 4th game in the next 11 days. They may be heading there on fumes. For us to progress to the next round: A loss, if Salzburg draws or loses to Liverpool A tie A win For us to claim 1st place in the group: A win, if Liverpool fails to win in Salzburg A draw, if Liverpool loses to Salzburg (We have the headtohead over both Liverpool and Salburg). If Salzburg beats Liverpool by any score other than 5-4, 6-5 etc.. Salzburg passes Liverpool. The groups will likely finish as follows: Seeded teams(Group winners): PSG, Bayern, Man City, Juventus, Barcelona, RB Leipzig, Ajax Unseeded teams(2nd placed teams): Real Madrid, Spurs, Shakhtar, Atletico, Inter/Dortmund, Lyon, Chelsea Coming in 1st would be huge. We need to beat Genk for us to have any chance at coming 1st. I don't mind drawing Real Madrid this year, I think they look a little shaky. I also really want to play Chelsea. Dortmund, Lyon, and Shakhtar wouldn't be bad draws but those teams are easy to underestimate. Draw against Real Madrid or Chelsea would draw huge attention, we'd have 55,000 fans going absolutely crazy which intimidates every team. Not to mention we actually have a squad that can compete. If we come 2nd well .. Anything but Barca or Man City please. It's time we make some noise in Europe. It's been too long. We have world class players all over the field. A memorable run will turn these players into legends of the club. I'm talking about Koulibaly, Insigne, Mertens and Allan. These players can cement themselves as some of the best to ever wear our jersey if they can LEAD us to a memorable run. We have a coach who knows how to handle the pressure in the Champions League, he has a squad of talented players, we're 1 world class striker away from having a top 10 squad in all of Europe. At the moment the only teams I see being better than us on paper are; Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico, Bayern, Man City, Liverpool, PSG, and Juventus. We're a squad that's just under, in a group that contains Ajax, Spurs, Inter, and Dortmund. (Talking about current Champions League teams). With some luck and a lot of heart like we showed over the 2 games against Liverpool, we can make a serious run. If the fans believe in the squad and management, and motivate them, I trust them to deliver. Nothing ever comes easy to clubs our size (us and Roma who I feel are about the equivalent size of us). We need to work extra hard to achieve great results. They had a memorable run a few years back, put them back on the map. We need to do the same.
My friend I agree to many of your points but Ancelotti will not do that. I am not saying Napoli are doomed. I am saying with Ancelotti and his tactics I can’t see us finish top 4.
If he fails we need to kick him out. We have been failing to win but we also haven't been losing many. Whether that is on the players and on Ancelotti I feel it is a mix of both. Some games the chances we miss are ridiculous, that isn't on Ancelotti. Other games it is clear that we need a change in tactics/formation to turn the game around and Ancelotti doesn't make the necessary adjustments. That is on Ancelotti. Our results in the league must change, it's impossible for us to be doing so well in the Champions League and then just coast through Serie A. How are we conceding so much in Serie A and rarely at all in Europe? To me it seems a lack of concentration from the players but to others it can be that we are not set up to win and I can understand that. I still believe in top 4 with Ancelotti as long as he shifts us to a 3-5-2.
If we struggled this much against Udinese and Bologna every chance Genk can beat us, especially with the toxic atmosphere at San Paolo right now. There isn't a single game right now where I can be confident of a victory.
I don't know, I still think Carlo is not the biggest problem. Look at our players, they are motivated, but they lack discipline and mentality, both of which are inherent and can only be developed in one through hard work and the passage of time. Carlo can step it up and prepare us for the giants of football, where we can compete with them, albeit with a bit of luck. However, they have not yet learned what it means to win a league, for they struggle to learn the meaning of continuity. When Juve was losing to Lazio, though I watched only the highlight I could see Buffon looking flabbergasted and extremely worried, Higuain looked at the proceedings of the game in disbelief and terrified, everybody viewed the possibility of defeat as a disaster except for Sarri, where it is logical because he will need excuses and he must believe in them in order to work well. But the difference is easily perceivable. Blame the coach for everything, but I know that we hadn't been doing so badly until the crisis showed up. Now even the players admitted that they had picked up fear and worry, and the fact that they so openly admit this is another piece of clear evidence pointing towards our weak mentality.
I have a bad feeling about this. I am sure Liverpool will grind out a win and we can possibly loss. Anyway, with our current form, it might be for the better. Don't want to see us get humiliated by a top team.