Examining how Napoli captured hearts and built a Serie A champion

Kvaratskhelia, despite being well-known by every club in Serie A and courted by Juventus’ Fabio Paratici at one point, cost Napoli less than 12 million euros since he came directly from the Georgian league. He was the undisputed bargain of the summer in European football.

Yet their other little-known signing, Kim Min-Jae, was probably second. Kim’s 18 million euro price tag as a center back didn’t seem like a bargain at the time, but Napoli believed in their scouting and ended up nabbing one of the world’s three best central defenders for a price that could very well be a quarter of what he is worth now.

André-Frank Zambo Anguissa has, likewise, been one of the best players in Serie A at his position and was purchased for just 16 million euros despite having a strong track record of success in both LaLiga and the Premier League.

Tanguy Ndombélé, Giacomo Raspadori, and Giovanni Simeone were positive loan acquisitions. Raspadori is one of the most talented young forwards in Italian football, and Napoli will now pay just 26 million euros to make his transfer permanent. Simeone, who scored 17 goals for Hellas Verona, costs just 12 million euros to buy permanently. Bargain.

Finally, backup left back Mathías Olivera may not seem like a steal at 16.5 million euros, but he has proven useful at a scarce position, capably filling in for Mário Rui whenever necessary. On the open market, Olivera would now be worth a little bit more than that, seeing as how he is a well-rounded, starting-caliber left back at the highest level of European football.

Napoli’s transfer window wasn’t just about the shrewd moves they made for the present and future. A club needs to part ways with players in order to make way for incoming transfers, and Napoli knew when to say goodbye.

Club legends Dries Mertens and Lorenzo Insigne needed to move on. The Partenopei also cashed in on Fabián Ruiz and Kalidou Koulibaly, who are both good footballers but were likely overvalued due to news-driven name recognition. Neither Koulibaly nor Ruiz are as good as the players Napoli ended up replacing them with, and the club was able to turn both players into 60 million euros. Finally, Napoli parted ways with Arkadiusz Milik – currently on loan from Marseille to Juventus and, quite frankly, nowhere near good enough to start for any team aspiring to win a Scudetto.

Napoli lost some well-known footballers, but they replaced them all with superior players who fit the identity of the club better. And sometimes, a transfer window is about the players you don’t sign. Despite being linked with experienced Champions League winner Keylor Navas, the Partenopei elected to stick with Alex Meret as their No. 1, and he has rewarded them with game-winning saves as one of Serie A’s best keepers in 2022/23.

Building the ideal squad

Most teams in modern football play with a 4-3-3, and Napoli fall in line with that. And since most players are right-footed – including the vast majority of the Partenopei’s lineup – there are several common principles teams follow when assembling an XI in the 4-3-3. Napoli are no different, though there will be a twist in the attack.

When assembling the defense, most teams will choose to have a “covering” center back whose job is to track runners, read the game in front of them, recycle possession, and clean things up. Amir Rrahmani has stepped into that role on the right side with Kim Min-Jae being the more aggressive, forward-moving center back. Kim will step in to make challenges and play quite on the front fit in terms of his passing and movement off the ball in and out of possession. Usually, the left center back will be the “chasing” one as opposed to the covering “defender”, pushing up to join the attack to vacate space left by the left-sided center midfielder and to support the overloading left back.

That’s because most teams play with a slightly unbalanced formation, with the left back overlapping more aggressively so that the left winger can cut inside into the half-spaces. Then, the right back plays things by ear, supporting the right winger (usually holding width) by either staying inside, overlapping, or holding width in deeper positions for the right-sided center midfielder to be more of a playmaker. Giovanni Di Lorenzo – the captain – fills this role better than anyone could, as he is so versatile and intelligent, capable of fulfilling any responsibility based on the lineup selection or overall gameflow.

So much praise goes to Napoli’s attacking players, but astute fans know to give plenty of credit to the midfield. It is so important for any team that wants to play entertaining, expansive football to have a strong anchor. Stanislav Lobotka is nearly as essential to Napoli’s success as Kvaratskhelia or superstar striker Victor Osimhen, because he is the man responsible for keeping things ticking. Lobotka drops deep to help Napoli get out of the press, stays back to recycle possession, and covers for the defenders or midfielders pushing up the pitch. He has made intelligent, progressive passes to help Napoli dominate possession, and his movement off the ball is important in winning the “space wars”. He is averaging 2.2 tackles per game in Serie A, constantly looking to win possession for his team and break up transition opportunities for the opposition.

Next to the anchor, Napoli had two very different profiles in Piotr Zieliński and André-Frank Zambo Anguissa. In most 4-3-3s if you have two right-footed midfielders, the one playing on the left side is the “creative” player with a license to shoot and drift into situations where a goal or assist is likely. They are asked to make penetrating runs into the box and focus on directly adding attacking value. The right-sided midfielder is more of a workhorse and ball-winner, tasked with supporting the right-sided wide men as needed while emphasizing progression on the ball, especially in a way that will draw out space for other players.

Therefore, it is unsurprising to see Zieliński receive more mainstream praise. After all, the Polish international is the one capable of scoring absolute bangers and using his technical quality to change matches. However, Anguissa has ended up having a more acclaimed season among fans and critics for his overall work, as he does so much for Napoli. Anguissa is a capable defensive presence and is non-stop on the ball, proving nearly impossible to dispossess and indeed making life that much easier for his teammates.

Finally, let’s get to the attack. In this 4-3-3, Napoli has a distinct advantage in having an ambipedal superstar left winger. Khvivcha Kvaratskhelia can either hold width and create chances via crosses to Osimhen with his left foot, or he can directly wreak havoc inside the box, turning defenders inside-out and shooting with either foot. He is a traditional and inverted winger in one magnificent player, scoring 12 goals with 10 assists to exemplify this skill set. Kvara can carry the ball, lead transition attacks, and break down defenses when Napoli are sitting in possession.

Having a winger like this is especially important to Napoli, because they have two different profiles on the right wing and have utilized them pretty equally. Hirving Lozano is a pacy, right-footed player holding width and putting in crosses, while Matteo Politano does similar things but as a left-footer. Kvara can help create overloads and allow those two players to get more space, but in order to help Politano have more space to create chances closer to goal, he can start from wider positions and still offer threat to defenses out there because of his left-footed crossing.

As a corollary to the Kvaratskhelia ambipedal advantage, Napoli have the most valuable left back in European football right now. Not the best, but the most valuable in terms of his versatility in an attacking sense. Like most left backs in a 4-3-3 playing behind an inverted winger, Mário Rui can overlap and cross with the best of them, but if Kvaratskhelia needs to shift wider in the gameplan, Rui can become an auxiliary midfielder like an inverted left back would. As a left-footer, Rui is not an inverted left back, but he has the composure on the ball and the quality in tight spaces to offer midfield-like qualities in possession.

All of this attacking flexibility and talent revolve around one of the world’s best strikers in Victor Osimhen. Since he has wingers and fullbacks who could deliver crosses and a creative midfielder in Zieliński, Osimhen fulfills Napoli’s need of having someone with a traditional “9” skill-set in the box. Osimhen is one of Europe’s best in the air and is able to create space off the ball for himself, finishing well in tight spaces.

Yet because Napoli also need to be able to create chances in transition or create chances against tight defenses when sitting in possession, Osimhen provides the even more important ability to create chances from nothing. His runs off the ball are ingenious and non-stop. The No. 9 never ceases his movement, which leads to opportunities for himself and others. On the ball, Osimhen has improved his own chance-creation, averaging a key pass and nearly a dribble completed per game to go with four overall assists. That improvement has been especially important in the context of having a superstar winger capable of scoring goals, as Osimhen and Kvaratskhelia have been able to forge a mutually-beneficial partnership.

You can see how Napoli have managed to create a squad with the right balance, keeping in mind how individuals can synergistically help each other if the skill sets are compatible.

Depth

Any great team needs to have enough depth to weather a grueling season of injuries and suspensions, and depth is also important from the perspective of having game-changers off the bench who can offer a different dynamic. A squad needs several different profiles to be truly complete, and Napoli had some underrated gems off the bench.

The phrase “underrated gem” immediately conjures Eljif Elmas. The North Macedonian forward is mostly used as a super sub on the right wing, but he has also made appearances in midfield, in the middle of the attack, and on the left side. That versatility is important to Napoli, but not as important as his ability to directly score or assist, working one-twos and finding a way to impact the final score in difficult situations with the kind of technical quality you don’t usually find from the bench.

Likewise, you usually don’t find two of the league’s best attacking players on the same bench, but Napoli can also draw upon Giovanni Simeone or Giacomo Raspadori to play top-class football as starters (if Osimhen is injured) or impact subs against even the best of opponents. Raspadori, for example, had a delightful finish in a recent 1-0 win on the road against Juventus.

Elsewhere in the squad, Napoli’s other loan acquisition, Ndombélé, provides a different kind of spark off the bench with his untouchable dribbling skills. Defensively, he has his weaknesses, but he has provided enough effort to be at least a net average in that department while offering plenty of progression.

Olivera has been a quality left back for Napoli, but the best of the backup defenders is none other than Juan Jesus. The little-known 31-year-old defender has been as good as the vast majority of center backs in Serie A whenever he has started. Jesus joined Napoli in 2021 after several successful seasons with Inter and Roma, remaining an effective player despite starting fewer than 10 matches this season in Serie A.

Intangibles

Finally, we come to that which cannot be measured by statistics or explained with tactics. The city of Napoli’s love for their team has been the heartbeat of this special season, as the Maradona has urged the Partenopei to some truly spectacular victories followed by heartwarming scenes. No team has been as loved by this crowd since the Maradona era, and because this has been the season of breaking the duck, perhaps they will hold a different place in the history books entirely.

It is easy for a team to crumble under the pressure, expectations, and emotional weight that Napoli places on any promising squad, sensing the possibility of the long-awaited Scudetto. But this squad seemed to feed off of and thrive off of the heavy emotions exhibited by a crowd that turned expectation into positive energy, showing an unconditional love for the team even when things got difficult (such as after a 4-0 loss to Milan that shocked everyone in Italian football).

Luciano Spalletti, as outlined above, has thoughtfully considered the best way to get the most out of his players tactically and has concocted an ideal balance in the squad. Yet he has been just as adept at motivating the team and supporting his players, knowing that his own personal agenda to win the “big one” was just as strong as the city’s.

Napoli became a team worth rooting for and captured the hearts of not just their own city, but also of hopelessly romantic football fans around the world. Many had been craving to watch a team like Napoli. So-called “tacticos”, old-school fans, and new-age supporters could all find elements of this team to admire and even relate to. They were underdogs with an exciting attacking style, a never-say-die attitude, and a passion to achieve something more that was evidenced by how every single player in the squad unselfishly put aside their own success to work and fight for the team.

The end result was a Scudetto that was never in doubt, a successful Champions League campaign, and the optimism that Napoli are only just getting started, creating the foundation for a team that can consistently bring glory to one of the most football-loving cities on the planet.