Napoli – AS Roma: Pages Are Still Missing In The Neapolitan Instruction Manual (2-2)

Francesco Calzona continued to find old instruction manuals, left behind by his predecessor, to gain a foothold in this match. Despite Napoli eventually breaking through, Calzona still failed to find the section on defending crosses and headers: as AS Roma snatched a point to pile more misery on the Maradona.   

Tactical analysis and match report by Joel Parker.

Luciano Spalletti is no longer in the dugout for either of these two teams, but the states that Napoli and Roma find themselves in can be tipped towards the national team’s coach; and the effect he has had. 

Having officially lost their Scudetto status, Napoli have failed to re-establish their pride as the Serie A season winds to a close. There are layers to this tragedy, but on the field; the precise patterns and a detached midfield have led to poor attacking displays. Calzona, former technical coach to Spalletti, briefly rekindled some of the charm, if only that charm could linger long enough to secure European football for next season.

That was the threat for Roma earlier in the season until Captain Future fired them into a Champions League position. After their defeat at home to Inter, Daniele De Rossi described himself as a “footballing son of Spalletti, you don't accept compliments when you lose.” Since that result in February, only Bologna have defeated them in the league and a Europa League semi-final awaits.

Three changes were made to the Napoli team defeated away to Empoli. Amir Rrahmani . . .