Maurizio Sarri is confident Dries Mertens can deliver the goods for Napoli “regardless of his role” after a hat-trick in Cagliari.
The Partenopei matched their all-time Serie A record with a 5-0 away victory at the Stadio Sant’Elia.
“It was a difficult game because we were coming off a Champions League decider, which takes away a lot of physical and psychological energy. It was also tricky to play with such an early kick-off,” Sarri told Sky Sport Italia.
Maurizio Sarri is confident Dries Mertens can deliver the goods for Napoli “regardless of his role” after a hat-trick in Cagliari.
The Partenopei matched their all-time Serie A record with a 5-0 away victory at the Stadio Sant’Elia.
“It was a difficult game because we were coming off a Champions League decider, which takes away a lot of physical and psychological energy. It was also tricky to play with such an early kick-off,” Sarri told Sky Sport Italia.
“Cagliari have always done very well at home, but we played a great game and showed real hard work to sacrifice ourselves in defence too. The work of the strikers off the ball makes the difference.
“Now we must try to focus and take the same approach against Torino next week.”
Mertens was used as a False 9 and bagged a hat-trick, so is this his ideal position?
“Mertens is a great player who can make the difference as a winger or a centre-forward, so frankly he’s great regardless of his role. At this moment I’d talk more about his form, because moving him by 10 metres isn’t going to change much.”
There is a worry for Napoli, as Kalidou Koulibaly went off with a knee injury.
“It was a knock and the first sensation is that it’s nothing serious, but we can expect a more definitive diagnosis tomorrow.”