Maurizio Sarri admits Napoli “were lacking sharpness” in the goalless draw with Chievo, but defends the performance at the Bentegodi.

This was only the second time in Serie A this season that the Partenopei failed to win, along with another 0-0 draw with Inter.

Maurizio Sarri admits Napoli “were lacking sharpness” in the goalless draw with Chievo, but defends the performance at the Bentegodi.

This was only the second time in Serie A this season that the Partenopei failed to win, along with another 0-0 draw with Inter.

“I am not angry with the performance. In tactical terms, we had an extraordinary game and allowed Chievo absolutely nothing. We simply got to the end of a difficult run of games and were lacking sharpness,” the Coach told Mediaset Premium.

“That simply meant we created the opportunities, but didn’t have the guile to finish them off. Chievo did what they had to do.”

With Pepe Reina, Faouzi Ghoulam and Arkadiusz Milik injured, the lack of strength in depth is starting to show.

“Mario Rui did pretty well, but he had three games in the last 15 months, so after an hour he felt muscular pain. It’s the pace and the running of Ghoulam that we miss more than his passing.

“It’s not the Marek Hamsik we were accustomed to seeing in the second half of last season, but he seemed worse a month ago. I think he’s on the right track now, has rediscovered his fitness and will start really playing after the break for international duty.

“It wasn’t Hamsik so much today as the other lads who struggled to take men on down the wings and, if anything, we did well to avoid conceding on the counter.”

Is it a coincidence that Napoli’s only stalemates in Serie A both came a couple of days after the Champions League defeats to Manchester City?

“I don’t think it was a psychological issue, as we spent the entire match in their final third. The problem is that Manchester City force you to do a lot of running, changes of pace, and using up a lot of physical energy.

“This was where we had to improve, as for the first half of last season, we were a team who either played at 100 per cent or didn’t win games. We had been improving. The other step forward would be to win games even when we aren’t particularly sharp, but right now missing two big players like Ghoulam and Milik represents a problem.

“This is the situation we are in and we have to do the best we can with the squad at our disposal. I hope we can be a bit sharper to get this sort of game by the scruff of the neck and win it.”

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