Champions League Contenders: SSC Napoli

Since taking charge of Napoli on December 11, 2019, Gennaro Gattuso has made the Partenopei click on all cylinders, who finished seventh in the league. More importantly, they won their first trophy in six years, defeating the likes of Inter and Juventus en route to winning the Coppa Italia. Gattuso’s Napoli showed high levels of proficiency in their manipulation of opponent's positioning and succeeded in consolidating possession and creating space.

In this post, I'll be analysing their recent games and study their chances of winning the Champions League this season.

Now let's take a look at their Offensive and Defensive moments which will define their Champions League journey.

Offensive:

Napoli prefer to keep their full backs deep during build-up, in line with the deepest midfielder. This enables them to create more wide space. They have no qualms about passing backwards to restart movements; to a certain extent it is encouraged as it allows Napoli to draw the opponent deeper and regain control, as most team are reticent to commit the press as far as the goalkeeper.

Defensive:

Napoli are also very impressive out of possession and Gattuso has implemented a strong option-oriented zonal marking system. In an option-oriented zonal system the main positional reference point is the ball and space (relative to the ball) and team mates’ movements follow behind. Thus the defence will shift, press and cover depending on the position of the ball but also in anticipation of the ball’s next move as they attempt to restrict attacking possibilities.

Let's see how Ahmed Kamal, Assistant Coach - Bahrain National Team, views Napoli's season till now

I hope you enjoyed my analysis and I'm eagerly looking forward to your invaluable feedback, suggestions and ideas. Do like, share and follow the page to show your love!

Football - Analysed!

Champions League Contenders: Juventus

After 8 consecutive years of winning the Serie A, it's not a surprise that Juventus has yet again, for the 9th season in a row, been crowned champions of Italy. It has taken many years of tinkering for the 60-year-old to piece together the parts that have helped create the recognisable ‘Sarriball’ style. Him, alongwith Ronaldo, will definitely not be stopping at only Italian laurels, they want to go all the way and bring European glory back to Turin!

In this post, I'll be analysing their recent games and study their chances of winning the Champions League this season.

Now let's take a look at their Offensive and Defensive moments which will define their Champions League journey.

Offensive:

Pushing up high and spreading the ball by using width is an almost foreign concept to Juventus. Under Allegri, they employed a more possession-based style. It involved patiently building-up using a series of short passes. Not the most exciting, but it was an effective tactic. While at the same time, Sarri has struggled to get his concepts across to the entire squad. For whatever reason, the players can’t move the ball quicker and in an effective manner. It’s been a frustrating sight for every Bianconeri supporter. But is it the manager’s fault? Or are the players immune to change?

Defensive:

The verticality of Sarri’s play does not only benefit his team in attack, but also in defense. His team is able to remain incredibly compact when defending, forcing their opposition to the outside and rarely allowing any room for the opposition to play in the middle of the pitch. Their “high-press” is much more of an attempt to force the opposition into a mistake, rather than a quest to win the ball back.

This time around, former India U19 and Indian Arrows coach, Floyd Pinto, presents his views on how important Champions League is for Juventus

I hope you enjoyed my analysis and I'm eagerly looking forward to your invaluable feedback, suggestions and ideas. Do like, share and follow the page to show your love!

Football - Analysed!