Luciano Spalletti and his system at Napoli
Part 1 - the build-up phase and principles in possession
There is only one team in the five biggest leagues in Europe which is unbeaten in their own league competition. Not it’s not Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or Manchester City. It is a team that has lost three of its most important pillars from the last decade and sits at the top of the Italian Serie A table. Well, it is not hard to guess about which team I am talking. Of course, this article will deal with Napoli under Luciano Spalletti and their fabulous run in both Italy and Europe.
Their success this season is somewhat of a surprise. In the summer, Dries Mertens, Lorenzo Insigne and Kalidou Koulibaly left the club. Three players which were integral parts since the great days under Maurizio Sarri. On top, Fabián Ruiz left the club at the end of the transfer window heading to PSG. So, it comes as no surprise that Napoli was considered an outsider of winning the Scudetto this season. Fast forward, three months and Napoli is top of the table eight points clear of second-placed AC Milan.
In their impressive first half of the season, they not only comfortably beaten teams such as Lazio, AS Rom, Milan or Atalanta but shocked Europe by outclassing Liverpool in the first match of the group stage 4:1 only then to continue winning against Rangers and Ajax. Especially, in the very entertaining win in the Netherlands, Napoli displayed great football and scored six times quieting the crowd in the Johan Cruyff Arena.
This impressive spell raises the question what their secret is. Let’s start with the more obvious answer for the regular football fan. Napoli did a great job compensating the departures of their key players.
Frank Anguissa, who was already on loan at Napoli last season, joined permanently and is an integral part to one of the best central midfield combinations, easily replacing Fabián Ruiz. Min-jae Kim joined from Fenerbahce and let Napoli fans quickly forget about Koulibaly. Along those new pillars, Napoli strengthened their squad depth by recruiting players such as Giacomo Raspadori, Giovanni Simeone, Tanguy Ndombélé, Leo Östigard or Mathías Olivera.
Those players not only improve the squad depth but also allow Spalletti to react to the opponent by tweaking the playing style. Both Raspadori and Simeone are replacements for star-striker Victor Osimhen but bring a different skill-set to the table.
The biggest steal of the transfer window was however, the signing of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. The Georgian who played for Rubin Kazan until Russia attacked Ukraine joined for only ten million euros from Georgian side Dinamo Batumi. In 14 games for Napoli he already scored eight times while delivering ten assists as well. In Napoli they gave the left winger the nickname Kvaradona. Indeed, his playing style is often compared to one of Argentina’s greatest players of all time, although he resembles less Diego Maradona but more a young Lionel Messi.
A team stagged with interesting players
Besides the named new signings, Napoli has an interesting mix of different talent which fit together quite well. The mentioned Victor Osimhen is one of the best strikers in Europe constantly attacking space behind the last defensive line.
Wingers like Hirving Lozano or Matteo Politano are great in 1vs1 situations. A trait many of Napoli’s players have. In particular, Stanislav Lobotka and Piotr Zielinski. While the former sits at the heart of Napoli’s possession game and displays a repertoire of clever turns and great first touches. The later brings the necessary verticality. Zielinski is great in carrying the ball forward but also dangerous between the lines or as a late arriver in the box.
This mix of talent allows for a variable approach including quick passing but also the use of dribblings. Luciano Spalletti did a great job in creating a system which emphasizes those strengths. Typically, the team is set up in a 4-3-3. At first glance is looks like a textbook 4-3-3 with the wingers moving in the halfspace, the fullbacks providing width and the three midfielders forming a triangle. While from a team-tactic standpoint the system is quite ordinary, the variability and precision of the group-tactic movements is impressive and worth an in-depth look.
Flexible build-up and the creation of passing lanes.
The structure above is the perfect example for Napoli’s approach in their own and the middle third. The back-four usually stretches the pitch by positioning wide. Lobotka occupies the six-space while his two-partners Anguissa and Zielinski push higher. In this specific example the wingers moved towards the centre. Since both are quite fast and look to attack the space behind the defence, Ajax fully commits to them leaving spaces wide for Di Lorenzo and Olivera.
Now, why is this structure working well for Napoli?
Once the defenders move forward with the ball, they have different vertical options. It is crucial for a successful play in possession to create as many lines as possible. By positioning on different horizontal lines, the receiver always has a direct layoff option. At the same time, each defensive line is occupied on different vertical line leading to a lower vertical compactness.
Here, for instance, the centre-back can pass the ball to Angussia. The midfielder can either play a layoff pass to Lobotka or take a first-touch away from the defender to turn. Something, Napoli’s midfielders constantly aim for. This quality opens space for Lobotka. Due to the threat of Angussia turning, Berghuis has to support Taylor in order to close the diagonal way into the centre. As a consequence, Lobotka receives a few seconds more when the ball is moved to him.
To successfully attract the opponent, the right timing of releasing the ball is crucial. When Angussia passes the ball too late, he risks losing it. If he passes to early, Berghuis does not commit, thus Lobotka does not really gain space and time. We see Napoli often taking two or three touches to give the opponent time to react.
What holds for Angussia, is also true for the wingers. Here, Rrahmani could also try to break the lines by passing the ball to Lozano. Again, the same principles apply to Lozano as did to Anguissa with the difference that Lozano is in a much more dangerous zone. Additionally, he can exploit the open space on the wing by moving the ball to the late arriving Di Lorenzo.
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This second aspect is crucial. Instead of staying high all the time, both fullbacks but especially Di Lorenzo move into the open space. One advantage of this behavior is the availability as a passing option for the centre-back. The other, that man-oriented pressing schemes are best played against using dynamic movements. As we know, the attacker always has the advantage of acting rather than reacting. Therefore, Di Lorenzo gets a headstart on his opponent and can exploit the space on the wing.
How to get between the lines
We’ve already seen how the good structure of Napoli allows them to progress. In their approach to break the lines of the opponent, they are quite flexible in their positioning. Usually, we see a winger moving into the channel to receive a pass from the centre-back.
In this scene, its Kvaratskhelia moving into the halfspace while Mario Rui remains wide. Kim has the space to move forward with the ball and the passing ability to play those passes into the halfspace.
One aspect which is crucial to mention is the positioning of Napoli. They manage to occupy different horizontal lines. It is rarely observable that the central midfielder is on the same line as the winger. This ensures that the winger can play the simple layoff pass to the central midfielder or the fullback. But not only the horizontal line of positioning is essential. The vertical position is surely as important as the horizontal. If the central midfielder moves too wide, he closes the passing lane to the winger.
Zielinski and Anguissa have a good feel for the game and the positioning needed. However, Napoli does not always rely on the winger moving inwards. There are also moments in which both fullback and winger stay wide while the central midfielder occupies the halfspace.
Here, for instance, Olivera and Kvaratskhelia occupy wide zones. After a switch Kim can move forward with the ball. Zielinski drops and creates a triangle with Lobotka. A simple application of the third-man principle allows Napoli to find the Slovakian defensive midfielder in an open position.
I find this short scene quite interesting and want to highlight a few aspects. First, why does Zielinski drop? Personally, I teach my players to remain between defensive and midfield line of the opponent. Based on this positioning a pass from the centre-back allows us to break into the dangerous zones. However, here the movement of Zielinski makes sense. For one, if he remains higher, he can only move the ball wide. Since the defence is settled it would cause Kvaratskhelia to be under pressure. Because Alvarez follows Zielinski, he could not turn with the ball either. Additionally, Anguissa was too deep and too far on the right side, thus also not a viable passing option. However, since Ajax pressed in a 4-4-2, Lobotka was the free man who could only be found using the third-man principle.
But that is not the only reason why dropping is critical in this scene. Focus on Kim for a second. The South Korean advances with the ball but faces pressure by Ajax striker. Without a quick passing option, he could only move the ball wide. Napoli would be isolated and unable to exploit the space left for Lobotka.
As a general principle, I always teach my players to move closer to the ball if the ball carrier is under immediate pressure. If not, stay higher or even move further up the pitch.
By the way, the scene continued by Lobotka moving the ball to Anguissa who missed the throughball and instead moved the ball wide. Another interesting aspect of the scene is the intended movement by Olivera. Due to Zielinski dropping, the leftback intends to move into the channel. This interchangeable positioning within a triangle on the wing, will be discussed in the part on the offensive game of Napoli.
In general, a back-four has the disadvantage that the centre-backs need to be positioned quite narrow to move the ball quickly. This, however, hampers the ability to pass the ball into the halfspace. Consequently, many teams try to create a back-three flexibly. As does Napoli. Either Di Lorenzo stays deeper and slightly inverted or a central midfielder drops. Sometimes, they solve those situations without anybody moving deeper but only with Lobotka being the connector. His skill with the ball and the often more passive pressing of Serie A allows the centre-backs to still stay wider.
So far, we’ve only focused on how Napoli manages to move the ball between the lines by using the halfspace. Since most teams focus on closing the centre and the halfspaces, a good team needs ways to use the wing zones as well.
This scene is the perfect example for how Napoli uses their fullbacks to penetrate the defensive block from the wing. Ajax closed the centre leaving space for Di Lorenzo on the right. The Italian national player does not move high and wide but takes a more narrow deeper position. This creates a better connection to central zones as well as the opportunity to receive the ball in an open body position.
Since Ajax left the wide spaces open, Taylor needs to step up leaving space for Anguissa which Di Lorenzo exploits.
Ballnear overload
The well-connected shape of Napoli is one of their main strengths alongside the comfortability of all players on the ball. Luciano Spalletti seems to take advantage of that fact by creating ballnear overloads.
Notice how in this scene all three midfielders are on the ballnear side forming a triangle. Usually, the triangle is formed with one deep point and two players higher, however, not on the same horizontal line. This allows Napoli’s defenders to look for the deep pass to Zielinski or Angussia while the receiver has not only support to layoff the ball and switch but is also safeguarded. If Napoli loses the ball, there would still be two midfielders left to quickly apply pressure and prevent the deep pass.
The close connections also allow for a quick ball circulation under pressure. But not only that, by having so many players close to the ball, movement without the ball can be better integrated. To understand this argument properly, we need to make a step back.
In general, receiving the ball in a static position has many advantages. For one, ball control is easier. But also planning ahead is facilitated since the time for pre-receivement checking of the surrounding is available. Thus, the first touch can be taken into the right space. In contrast, players receiving the ball in movement have less time to check their surroundings which makes them prone to miss open space or make the wrong first touch. However, they have the dynamic advantage.
If we elevate this logic one level, movement without the ball needs to be well-integrated. As long as a player is still moving in position, he is not always a passing option. Especially, when the timing is poor. Often, one can observe how excessive movement without the ball destroys the structure and leads to the ball carrier needing to try heroic passes. Napoli prevents that by overloading the ballnear side. Therefore, the winger, the striker or one of the central midfielders can still roam around or attack deep zones without destroying the structure because the ball carrier still has enough passing options.
One risk of overloading ballnear spaces is the lack of connectivity to the far side. If both the winger and fullback stay wide, no one occupies the ballfar halfspace making it hard to switch. Without the possibility to switch, the defence can fully commit to ballnear side. Napoli prevents that from happening by using either the winger or in deeper zones the fullback inverted.
The use of dribblings
One aspect of Napoli’s performance stands out. Their massive use of small dribblings by their midfielders. I was surprised to see them only 13th in attempted dribblings in the big five European leagues according to fbref. Since to me it seems like a tool they constantly use. It could be that the slower pace of Serie A and the smaller focus on counter attacks explains the numbers. With mainly Bundesliga and Ligue 1 teams before them in the ranking, this theory might be true.
I’m not sure whether fbref declares every small action of Napoli’s midfielders as a dribbling attempt. Lobotka, for instance, works with a great deal of clever first touches and turns under pressure and often holds the ball a bit to attract pressure before releasing it to the open teammate. Zielinski and Anguissa are often benefiting from Lobotka. They use the space to drive the ball forward. It’s no wonder that Angussia is the team’s player with the second most attempted dribblings behind only Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. This tendency to solve many situations using dribblings is a common trend in world football. Against increasingly tighter defences, dribblings are a valuable tool to create pressure, space and ultimately break the lines.
Alongside dribblings, Lobotka, Zielinski and Anguissa use little one-twos to break man-orientations and find the receiver in an open position only then to advance with the ball.
Inverted fullbacks
We’ve already discussed the role of Di Lorenzo as a slightly narrow and deeper positioned player. Occasionally, the captain but also leftback Olivera can move inside to create passing options, better passing angles or more space for the wingers.
The example above shows how moving inside can sometimes open new angles for progressive passes. Since, Lobotka moved to the left side as did Zielinski, Angussia has to hold the centre. If Di Lorenzo stays wide, the centre-back has a hard time reach him. By moving quickly inside, he occupies the midfield line, offers a progressive option or creates space for either Kim or Angussia.
Notice, the structure of Monza and the effect the movement of Di Lorenzo can have. After Napoli moved the ball from the left inside, the three-man midfield had to shift. Due to Di Lorenzo moving inside, Sensi had to focus on him rather than anticipating a pass to Anguissa and stepping up to press him. Additionally, the striker being close to Kim while closing the lane to Di Lorenzo needed to adjust his position as well making a step inside which gives Kim more space and the possibility to switch through the right centre-back.
Besides providing better passing angles, an inverted fullback can also benefit the winger. Since most defences defend man-oriented, moving inside as a fullback can open the diagonal passing lane from the centre-back to the winger. This in turn leads to a gain of space while bringing a winger like Kvaratskhelia in dangerous 1vs1 situations.
Here Olivera moved inside taking the Ajax winger with him. Consequently, Kim can use the open passing lane to the Georgian who in turn has Olivera and Zielinski as passing options to continue. Moreover, the movement of Olivera in this situation fits the guidelines of Napoli in possession. Their triangle consisting of central midfielder, winger and fullback can fluently occupy different zones challenging a man-oriented defensive shape. But more in that in the part on Napoli’s offence.
The role of the different strikers
Now, what is beside the principles in possession, the occupation of the halfspaces and the role of the fullbacks? In the introduction I hinted at the different profiles of strikers Spalletti can choose from. With Victor Osimhen, Napoli has a striker who is great in attacking the space behind the defence. His runs are well-timed and in 1v1 duels he is extremely hard to stop. Ask Virgil van Dijk of his night in Naples. With the Nigerian on the pitch, Napoli can regularly punish opponent’s high pressing using long balls behind the last line which Osimhen can attack.
When Raspadori is on the pitch, things change. The new signing from Sassuolo is not the fastest and definitely not the tallest. Quite contrary, he is a small, flexible striker moving a lot, playing great first touch switches and his in general hard to control for a defence. Raspadori would consistently move deeper creating an overload in central areas and is another passing option for their centre-backs or Lobotka. Raspadori also stays higher and then dynamically drops. So, his role is not completely that of a false nine. What happens when he drops into midfield is that he takes a defender with him opening space for Lozano, Politano or Kvaratskhelia to attack that open space. Again, long balls behind the last defensive line are then a valuable tool to counter a high pressing team of which only a few exist in Serie A but more in the Champions League.
Even though Victor Osimhen is clearly the first choice. The likes of Raspadori and Simeone which is more the classical box striker, give Spalletti different options to adjust or even surprise an opponent.
Some problems
What is left to say about their performance during the build-up phase? Even though I credit their play a lot, at times Napoli reveals a few flaws. The connectivity between their centre-backs and the offensive players is sometimes not given. When the distance is too long, the wingers and the striker are only reachable via a long ball. This facilitates the pressing of the opponent because they have to worry less about the deep ball.
Besides, the heavy overloads with both central midfielders moving to one side have the downside that after switches, the support is occasionally non-existent. Then the fullback is isolated or can only play with the winger. Those progressions happen through the wingzone making them more easy to defend. Nevertheless, those flaws are minor. So far, only Milan managed to control a game and bring Napoli’s game in possession to a standstill. To be honest, at least for one half. Besides, the extreme approach of Atalanta seemed to be successful against Napoli as well.
However, Spalletti’s team still won both matches indicating that the team is not only on a good run but has serious Scudetto ambitions. And maybe, only maybe, they can also compete for the Champions League title. Since, the unusual World Cup break, I have the feeling that we will see many big teams struggle in the Champions League. Maybe that’s the chance for Napoli to shine.
I will publish Part 2 and 3 of this extensive Napoli analysis in the coming weeks. However, I want to know your thoughts. Which of the following players do you like to see analyzed by me?
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