Torino used up all their energy early. The right result for a weekend when Inter and Lazio are playing other top teams, we could be making some more headway.
We sit 19 points ahead of 2nd place with 11 games remaining. We need 5 wins to mathematically clinch the scudetto. It's our time.
Spalletti receives the Enzo Bearzot prize today. Some comments from ADL, in his own unique idiom. "We started from the bottom. In 1996 I had imagined going into the soccer business, and three years later I showed up with 125 billion lire in front of Ferlaino [chairman and majority shareholder of Napoli in the Maradona era], who sued me (laughs, ed.). I had also forgotten about it because my children were graduating in Los Angeles. In 2004 I went to Capri for vacation, I did not know that Napoli had gone bankrupt. I saw that Gaucci wanted to take over the club for 5 million. When I learned, against the advice of my wife and my son Luigi, that he wanted to take over Hollywood, I went ahead and told him, "Son, what do you want soccer to be compared to cinema that is so complex. So this beautiful adventure started 18 years ago. I remember from L.A. going to these little fields in the South and getting spit on my head and locking myself in the locker room, I thought, think what a career transition... My family delighted (laughs, ed.). Eventually my wife became a fan, she rips her hair out when Napoli is on, you can't watch the game with her, I, on the other hand, am more 'English' in my approach." "Spalletti? I am happy for the award he won. Mine was a happy intuition, I had to throw him off. Gattuso was not feeling well at the time and I went to Milan to Bosco Verticale to meet Luciano, whom I had already contacted before he went to Roma and he said no. He came to open up to me and I said, 'Luciano I have a big problem, if Gattuso is not feeling well I need you' .And he said, 'No, in June I am coming.' Eventually I tore him a yes even for the immediate if necessary. Then we went on until June because I am a gentleman and I did not want to exonerate Gennaro. Maybe I would have gone first in the Champions League if I had done that. In the meantime to throw everyone off I went through Conceiçao, through Allegri who came four times to give me soccer lessons in my offices and then in the end came the good Luciano to bring us back among the top three in Italy and even that year, last year, something else could have happened. Scudetto? If the rules of soccer were different maybe we would have won the Scudetto already other times. Spalletti will stay in Naples. Departure of big names? There is always the indecent proposal...the numbers are made by others. We are waiting. They are extraordinary guys. My contracts are unique, they come from the movies, so no one moves if we say no. We'll see." --- Spalletti's contract has a club option for next season, but it sounds like ADL prefers to negotiate a renewal through 2025 instead of exercising it. --- Spalletti himself had the following comments on the occasion: "We had talked about the indifference when I arrived to results that were not so acceptable to the city. There was a need to compact and realize a unified body to deal with difficulties. Controlled euphoria? But have you seen how beautiful Naples is? I decided to live in Castel Volturno because from how beautiful the city is you cannot look at it. There are things so beautiful that then one is impressed and the eyes become all blue (laughs, ed.). Even the players now need to be good because they risk with a little euphoria from the results to feel fulfilled, this is the worst thing that can happen to us. But every time I try to make speeches when I'm afraid that they will drop their attention, they look at me at the end of the game and the next day as if to say, did you see that they are not like that? They really are made of a different dough." "Champions? This is something that has to be totally experienced, we can't wait to go up against each other. These are beautiful things that I have never experienced in 64 years. Players also have to be careful. Time goes by never to go over again, and these matches are beautiful. Physically the team is fine, we have a top-notch staff thanks to the president. I think it is fundamental to understand that in these games you don't bring in the past because they dress you to the best with all your qualities and you hardly don't reproduce them in the match. We can't carry this minimal advantage into the championship. We start from scratch, from zero. That was one of Bearzot's qualities. He was the progenitor, the inspiration of our category. They said he was stubborn, but I saw him as consistent with respect to the knowledge of his work." "Kim and Kvaratskhelia immediately ready? The president had this doubt too. Before we got them we used to talk in the evenings, about Kvara I worked in Russia and asked some of my friends. De Laurentiis expressed some concerns to me about the difference between the leagues, but today the football boundaries are thinner, it is easier to succeed in integrating into a different program and way of evaluating than before." "Neapolitanism? This is perceived even being outside, when you see the images of Napoli and Maradona and it becomes forced to absorb and hold a certain pressure that is part of love and passion. Here you live for soccer, but this is still the time of work, it is a pact with the team and they have it very clear. Then we will see if it will be celebrated." "The group? We have to be careful not to wrong the rest of the team. If we talk about modern soccer, Di Lorenzo has this quality of being able to multi-task in multiple roles. Giovanni is an incredible defender, when he builds he has quality and adds to the midfielders inside the field, when he goes up front with his forays he highlights more strains on the opposing line. Inside this individual quality is the growth of the players, together we become a very strong team. In closing I tell the children that if you go to school you dribble better...."
It seems to be a point of pride with him. As far as I can tell it means he likes contracts with team held options and fairly heavy on performance incentives. I don't have evidence yet on his stance on signing bonuses, but I would guess he's against them, given that he likes to award longer contracts. Basically he wants to have exclusivity, but he's also willing to make everyone an "executive producer," so they share in the success.
Our first of 3 encounters with ACM starts this Sunday. I don't care if we draw or win. We must protect our best players and we can't give them anything to take into the UCL games.
When do they usually announce the full schedule for the next season? I'm going over to Italy in August and may cross over with the games of the first stage. Too early for Champions league unfortunately.
Really common injury but it sounds like he won't be jumping for a while. Left Adductor strain recovery time from some physio website in the UK: Recovery time will depend on the severity of the injury. For Grade 1, recovery can take up to 2 weeks with normal movement such as walking resumed within a few days. Grade 2 strains can take 3-6 weeks to heal while Grade 3 strains may take up to 4 months, especially if all or most of the muscle was torn.
The day has come, the first of uno-due-tre against Associazione Calcio Milan. We're catching them at the best of times and the worst of times. Osimhen will be out, probably replaced by Simeone in the center. Milan has been on a nasty skid, with their last win over a month ago (in part thanks to the international break) when they hosted Atalanta. They've had an unpredictable series of lineups, but we know that Kalulu didn't make the trip because of a calf injury sustained during his callup to France U21, which could open up their right side for Kvara. Ibrahimovich also picked up a thigh injury for Sweden after just returning from a long injury before the break. The sports books are heavily favoring a Napoli win, but coming back from the break makes the picture less certain. Kim and Ndombele are both on four yellow cards, another card this game will result in a suspension. For Milan, Ferguson, Calabria, Kjaer, Rebic are all approaching suspension. Spalletti press conference with subtitles: Milan arrives in town with heavy police presence and barriers.
Not Fergusun, Kalulu (who isn't playing). Apparently I can't tell a tiny icon of Bologna from Milan's tiny icon. Olivera will also be out for Napoli (lower back pain). Some of the Napoli supporters groups are planning to be silent for this match in protest of Champions League ticket prices (90 EUR in their sections).