Napoli struggled for large periods of last night's game with Bologna, but eventually ran out as 3-0 winners.

Jose Callejon finally broke the Rossoblu resistance with just over 20 minutes left, and the Partenopei maintained a perfect record.

Words: Lee Scott (@FMAnalysis)

That the European league season has to take a break so soon in to the new season for international fixtures is a decision that is consistently questioned by fans and teams alike.

Napoli struggled for large periods of last night's game with Bologna, but eventually ran out as 3-0 winners.

Jose Callejon finally broke the Rossoblu resistance with just over 20 minutes left, and the Partenopei maintained a perfect record.

Words: Lee Scott (@FMAnalysis)

That the European league season has to take a break so soon in to the new season for international fixtures is a decision that is consistently questioned by fans and teams alike.

For Italian football fans this break was doubly irritating, as they saw the national team picked apart by Spain before struggling to a 1-0 win at home to Israel. These results led to a widespread condemnation of coach Giampiero Ventura as he continued with his 4-2-4 system.

Indeed the lack of conviction in the win over Israel has started a discussion over whether Italy should revert to a 3-5-2 for the forthcoming World Cup, or even if they should match the most impressive club side in Italian football, Napoli, and move to a 4-3-3.

The resumption of Serie A this past weekend therefore saw the spotlight once again turned on Napoli as they looked to continue their strong start to the season away to Bologna, it was also a chance to see the likes of Lorenzo Insigne playing in a system that suits his strengths and Jorginho playing at all, following the midfielders omission from the squad altogether.

Unfortunately for the first two thirds of the match Napoli were not at their brilliant best, they struggled to break down a stubborn Bologna defensive effort and the home side were proving dangerous on the counter-attack. Indeed it took until the substitution of Napoli captain Marek Hamsik and the introduction of Piotr Zielinski for the Partenopei to find the balance needed for their attacking system.

The match proved to be an interesting tactical battle between Bologna Coach Roberto Donadoni and Maurizio Sarri of Napoli.

Line-ups

Bologna (4-4-1-1): Mirante; Krafth, Maietta, Helander, Masina' Di Francesco, Poli, Pulgar, Verdi; Palacio; Destro

The keys to the Bologna system were Andrea Poli and Erick Pulgar in the centre of the midfield who held the shape for Bologna superbly, especially in the first half.

Simone Verdi was a constant menace for the home side when playing wide on the left but when he moved centrally later in the second half his impact was relatively limited.

Napoli (4-3-3): Reina; Hysaj, Chiriches, Koulibaly, Ghoulam; Jorginho, Allan, Hamsik; Callejon, Insigne, Mertens

It was something of a surprise to see club captain Marek Hamsik start the match, whilst on international duty for Slovakia it emerged that the influential midfielder had been suffering from a hamstring injury. Other than that the team and system were as expected from Sarri.

Bologna solid defensively in the first half

Napoli under Maurizio Sarri are a side that will kill you by a thousand cuts when on top of their game, often players like Jorginho are unfairly labelled as players who only pass the ball backward or sideways but never forward. Critics of the Brazilian-born midfielder use those points when people highlight his impressive number not only of passes but completed passes.

This could not be further from the truth though. While Napoli do play a lot of fast and short combinations in central areas, these are designed to constantly shift the angle and depth of attack and force the defensive players to move out of position. This in turn provides the opportunity for Napoli then to play through the open spaces in to the final third.

For the majority of this match, however, Bologna were extremely disciplined in their defensive approach to their game and Napoli struggled to create any chances of note.

In this example Napoli have possession of the ball inside the Bologna half with the ball being played in to the midfield, as you can see Bologna are playing in a deep block, where their defensive structure is deep in their own half, and there are few spaces for Napoli to play through.

Against a side that plays with a deep block one of the most efficient ways to outplay them and penetrate the penalty area is to play through the wide areas, an area in which Napoli are traditionally very strong. In the first half however The Bologna full-backs were extremely effective in closing down the pass out to the wide area and Napoli struggled to find space to play.

This time play is on the left hand side for Napoli, usually this is the strongest area of the field for Napoli with combinations between Insighe, Ghoulam and Hamsik proving an effective strategy for penetrating even the most stubborn of defences.

In this match through these three were relatively subdued with Insigne tending to take possession of the ball on the left side when isolated and with Ghoulam and Hamsik struggling to get in to supporting positions.

Here once again you can see that the Bologna defensive unit is tight and compact with the structure having slid over to the left side to cover the man in possession.

Napoli start to play through Bologna

As the game wore in it there was a sense that there was real importance connected to the result for Napoli. If the side from the south of Italy wants to challenge for the Scudetto this season then this was the type of difficult match against a stubborn opponent that they will need to find a way to win.

In the end the match swung on an intelligent substitution from Sarri, and an inch perfect pass from Lorenzo Insigne.

The decision was made to replace Marek Hamsik with Piotr Zielinski, with the Napoli captain struggling to impose himself on the game. The Polish international came on and provided the supporting connection that Lorenzo Insigne needed to make an impact on the game. Indeed it was the Italian international who played the pinpoint pass that found Jose Callejon at the back post for the opening goal.

It is exceptionally difficult for a side to maintain the level of defensive concentration that we saw from Bologna for the entire ninety minutes. Eventually mental fatigue will set in and mistakes will be made. As the second half wore on Napoli began to find more and more routes through towards goal.

Here we see Napoli finally creating space in the wide areas for Hysaj to move in to. As Callejon comes in to the half space on the right hands side of the field the

Bologna left back is attracted inside with him. This creates space in the wide area and a lofted pass from the midfield accesses the wide area and allows Hysaj to move forwards.

This time the attacking movement is on the left hand side of the field. This is the initial movement that led to the third Napoli goal. Once again Insigne has moved over to the left hand side but this time the right back from Bologna has moved out to cover the wide man. With the second half well under way there was less midfield cover from Bologna and the connection between the right sided central defender and right back for Bologna is stretched.

Napoli manage to play through Bologna using a relatively simple third man run movement. As Insigne gets the ball he plays the pass across to Zielinski who is in the positional normally taken by Marek Hamsik. As Zielinski takes possession of the ball Ghoulam makes a run through the space between both Insigne and Zielinski and runs behind the Bologna defece.

This run makes the vertical pass from Zielinski a simple one and Ghoulam is free to attack the edge of the Bologna penalty area.

Conclusion

There is a real sense following this match that Napoli have turned a corner and are no longer as suspect mentally against stubborn opponents.

In the end the 3-0 scoreline is perhaps hard on Bologna and puts a flattering sheen on the result for Napoli but as the home side tired in the second half the Partenopei had the quality and the composure to take full advantage of their opportunities.

Napoli will have more impressive matches as the season goes on and they were in no way at their best in this match. At the end of the day thought he three points will be all that matter.

Bygaby

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Tickets Kit Collector