Napoli, ahead with 3-5-2 and the Lukaku-Raspadori duo

Naples, 17 February 2025 - After just over twenty-four hours the Napoli he knew the true specific weight of the bittersweet balance imposed by the Lazio all 'Olympic: TheInter not only did it fail to beat the home team Juventus, thus seeing the chance of reaching the top of the rankings vanish, but actually came out defeated by theAllianz Stadium, recreating a space of light between itself and the leader, who has occupied this prestigious position for a good while now 18 turns. The verdict of the double comparison at a distance foreseen by the day 25 di Serie A this is it: Azzurri still first with 2 points ahead of the reigning champions, all just a few weeks before the direct clash at Maradona. So, at the end of a shift that for many at the Napoli reserved (on paper) one of the last difficult away matches of the championship, smiles Antonio Conte, albeit with the regret of not having taken full advantage of the opportunity to launch the escape despite the injury emergency, which in turn risks (so to speak) having opened up unexpected reflections on the formation with which to try to close the season in the best possible way.

Yes to 3-5-2: the reasons for the defense

Some considerations had actually already started after the highly questionable January transfer market, the one that between the illustrious departure of Khvisha Kvaratskhelia and the arrival in his place of a player like Noah okafor not exactly physically ready and perhaps not even up to the level of his predecessor, he had left a lot of discontent well before the verdict on the pitch: a speech that took on a very high importance when on the left he stopped David Neres, who had in fact surpassed the Georgian in the hierarchies even before his departure for the direction Paris Saint-Germain. Both situations, the return to the top of the condition of Okay and the return from a non-trivial muscular problem of Neres, will not have a quick resolution and therefore, at least for the moment, the 4-3-3 it could be put away in a drawer: especially if you think that in the meantime, right at theOlympic, Matteo Politano has shown that he can also make an impact as a full-back and therefore not just as a pure winger. The last match, thanks to the long-distance defeat ofInter, has thus brought back into fashion the 3-5-2, not by chance the most used module by Tale in a career that includes 'some' satisfactions. Not only the recent past: also the imminent future imposes choices, in turn calibrated on an infirmary that remains very full. For the away match at the home of As an, which yesterday at Florence reiterated how his quality goes far beyond what the rankings say today, the Napoli in fact he will still have his choices counted in certain areas of the pitch. Speaking of the back line, the long-term absentee will certainly be out of action Mathias Olivera, while Leonardo Spinazzola has some timid chances of recovering in time: the conditions of Pasquale Mazzocchi after the stop of theOlympic, which would then also change the lineup of substitutions on the Azzurri bench. Then there is Alessandro Good morning, which against the Lazio, for a return that was anything but soft after two months of stoppage, has shown that he is fine but that he does not yet have 90 minutes in his legs. In short, right at the Sinigaglia and against a team that makes the offensive phase its strong point, Napoli should not present itself with risky choices, even within the limits of the current emergency. Better, probably, to continue with the 3-5-2, a module that could help the Azzurri also in attack. With particular reference to two protagonists who for different reasons are not going through a very positive phase but who, as a pair, at theOlympic (and not only) have demonstrated that they can work well.

Yes to 3-5-2: the reasons for the attack

Romelu Lukaku makes the bank and James Raspadori capitalizes on one of the few offensive chances created by the Napoli, not new this year to collect more than he saysXG (the index of the Expected Goals) product. The league leaders are smiling, even more so thanks to the hindsight dictated by the defeat of theInter against Juventus, but the two co-authors of the temporary network are also smiling 1-1 dell 'Olympic. Lukaku, in particular, despite continuing to lack particular continuity in the scoring phase, as is somewhat typical of his career, he serves another assist, bringing his tally to 7 in the league, 8 in season also counting the Coppa Italia: no attacker has so far come close to similar numbers which confirm his importance in the tactical chessboard set up by Tale and focused more on substance than aesthetics. Then there is Breakers, who in blue plays the opposite role to the Belgian: almost the maximum performance in the goal area in proportion to the minutes spent on the green rectangle. From words to numbers: for the 2000 class the loot speaks of 2 goals e 1 assists packaged in 628 ' played on the field, in turn spread across 17 attendance. In short, beyond the personal qualities, known for a long time for both, the couple Lukaku - Raspadori It seems well-matched, in addition to enhancing the two protagonists and the same offensive skills of the Napoli in a moment that is not particularly brilliant. In this phase, due to the absences in the starting eleven and the few choices from the bench, the Azzurri must - as they say - play easy and also in this sense the tandem composed of the number 11 and the number 81 of the squad seems to offer more guarantees than other options. In fact, the same Tale at the beginning of the season, and certainly without being able to predict this exploit of his team, he had stated that the ability of his Napoli being able to wear more tactical clothing would have been an additional asset to exploit when needed. A moment that seems to have arrived.

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