Naples, from Conte's no to the team's trust: the background to Garcia's confirmation

Naples, 12 October 2023 – It is difficult to establish how much on Wednesday Rudi Garcia was objectively close to being exonerated: probably a lot when Aurelio De Laurentiis he had begun to dial, supported by much optimism, the number of Antonio Conte. In reality, the facts would soon prove the owner wrong, forced against his will to confirm the current technical guidance of Napoli.

The shadow of ADL in Castel Volturno

The question that has been haunting the entire world of football since the early hours of the morning is only one: how can a coach remain in the saddle despite the various motions of no confidence passed by his president? In this specific case, we start from statements released to Roma Monday, when the patron publicly admitted the ongoing crisis in a marriage that was only a few months old. We then arrive at the fateful last hours, those in which precisely ADL initiated a round of phone calls and contacts that would prove fruitless. Hence the confirmation of Garcia that thus, barring unexpected collapses, it will be able to 'survive' at least until the next stop, that of November. He mentioned the collapses: the good triptych to seal the fate of the French coach, already today a sort of 'miracle' according to the plans and parameters of De Laurentiis, will be the one who will put the Napoli in front of Greece Verona, Union Berlin e Milan. The air that weighs down the blue bench forces a Garcia not to rest on your laurels. He conveyed the message, loud and clear, exactly ADL, present today at Castel Volturno to supervise the work of the French coach, who thus finds himself going from virtually (if not something more) exonerated coach to 'deputy to the president', who in a certain sense virtually takes on the main burdens of the role. In this regard, more or less recent precedents also lead to the hypothesis of clear directives De Laurentiis a Garcia, currently little more than a puppet, to reverse the dangerous trend started by Napoli. Form, players to field and perhaps not to replace and perhaps even the approach with the media: the owner, as we know, from his very personal perspective feels that he has what it takes to decide what to do on all these issues and perhaps on many still others. For information ask Maurizio Sarri, who at the time had landed in the Campania capital with the intention of using a tactical scheme that would have included the attacking midfielder: the intervention of De Laurentiis, needless to say, led to the clear turn towards that 4-3-3 which would then be revealed to us the ideal form of Napoli, with the championship won last season as a manifesto of this theory. However, even the most beautiful and successful things, as we know, can become a boomerang when taken to extremes: this is precisely the case with that 4-3-3 which in the summer became the first parameter for selecting the new Italian coach. A dogma which, with hindsight, would have turned out to be a sensational own goal when compared to the dividends collected (so far) by Garcia.

Saving veterans

In reality, a very large party in the world of football advocates another thesis: the one that entrusts a large part of the coaches' fortunes simply to the players. A theory that is at times banal but in fact has never completely gone out of fashion. Just the Napoli, curiously, is a good example of this. Just think of the Italian roster, which in practice remained almost identical to the one that just a few months ago brought the title back to the Campania capital after 33 years. Of course, the hole left by Kim Min Jae over time it would later reveal itself to be a chasm: regardless of the quality of Nathan, his successor who is slowly proving that he can easily play in Serie A. Yet, apart from the farewell of the South Korean, who in turn in Bayern Munich is perhaps struggling more than it should, the squad has remained almost identical to the one that won last championship: can the same be said about the performance? In fact, several individuals seem to be pale copies of the sometimes phenomenal players who had literally 'killed' the tournament behind them, with the collective maneuver paying the worst consequences. Not only the game produced: what has also changed is the attitude of many protagonists of the championship run, the first to justify their decline by denying the theory of those who speak of a few too full bellies in the shadow of Vesuvius. 'Excusatio non petita, accusatio manifest', it is said in these cases. Attitudes were mentioned: now almost every replacement of Garcia it becomes a chess game between the latter and the player whose turn is forced to leave. Not exactly the sign of a united and compact dressing room around its leader, as happened until last May Luciano Spalletti. Yet, curiously, the squad itself, in particular in the figure of the senators, voted for the trust granted to the French coach, saved by his 'tormentors', the same ones who contributed to delegitimizing him in the eyes of the public with a performance that was not up to par of the tricolor sewn on the chest and, even more so, with behaviors that are not always mature and aligned with their technical guidance. In short, what between Garcia and much of the rose of Napoli that the frost has set is quite evident: in these cases, as we know, a messenger may be needed to break down the wall that has been created. In the case in question, curiously the matchmaker was the protagonist you don't expect: Kalidou Koulibaly, now an ex for some time, late on Wednesday evening declared the team's intention to confirm Garcia. A blessing that left many stunned: perhaps the same De Laurentiis, who perhaps went to the technical center today Castel Volturno precisely to verify the reliability of this thesis. All very nice: it's a shame that the championship break took it out of the hands of Garcia several big names in the squad, currently busy with their respective teams National. In short, once again the confirmation of the French coach seems to hang by a thread: that of the telephone between De Laurentiis e Tale which did not yield the desired results.

Read also - Corona: "Zaniolo and Tonali are also betting"