Francesco Calzona has acknowledged the challenges faced by Victor Osimhen and Kvicha Kvaratskhelia during their tenure at Napoli. However, he asserts that the recent 6-1 victory over Sassuolo offers a glimmer of hope for the team’s prospects of securing a spot in the Champions League.
Taking charge as the club’s third coach this season, Calzona commenced his tenure with a pair of draws against Barcelona in the Champions League and Cagliari in Serie A.
Despite facing adversity when Uros Racic propelled Sassuolo into an early lead against the run of play in the rescheduled Week 21 fixture, Napoli exhibited resilience. They subsequently overturned the deficit, propelled by goals from Amir Rrahmani, a hat-trick from Osimhen, and a brace from Kvaratskhelia.
“Victor is returning to his levels. Clearly, he wasn’t in great shape after the Africa Cup of Nations, he was away for over a month and is slowly rediscovering his form.
“Kvara also struggled, but today showed just what he can do,” Calzona told DAZN.
“I sensed positivity from the first training session, the lads aways gave me their all. I was surprised to see how eager they were to work, to stay together, and that gave me hope.”
Calzona possesses familiarity within the Napoli squad stemming from his tenure as an assistant manager under both Maurizio Sarri and Luciano Spalletti. Presently, he assumes the position of the Slovakia coach.
“It has been a difficult season for these players and it is not easy for them to shake off those negative effects. We’ve been working together for a week now, I saw the intensity rise, a different quality of training. It is thanks to the lads, as they really want to improve the current situation.”
This development holds the potential to serve as a pivotal moment, particularly given the imminent encounter with longstanding adversaries, Juventus, scheduled for Sunday evening at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
The outcome has propelled them to parity with Lazio, setting the stage for a series of consequential face-offs between the two teams.
“We need to take it one game at a time. Napoli are an important club, we must get as many points as possible, hold on to that hope and then see where we are at the end of the season.”
Both Kvaratskhelia and Osimhen encountered significant challenges during their tenure under the management of Rudi Garcia and Walter Mazzarri. However, the inquiry arises as to how Calzona has managed to rejuvenate them, particularly through the strategic utilization of substitutions.
“They were struggling due to various reasons, but they never caused controversy, they just got their heads down and worked. I am not some madman who would do without players of this quality, but if they are losing intensity, then I have to introduce fresh legs, especially as those who came on have given me a strong response so far.”
Calzona worked under Spalletti in the year before the Scudetto, but insists he is not trying to copy his mentor.
“What Spalletti did with this team cannot be equalled. I just try to propose a simple style of football, aiming to spend more time in the opposition half. The lads have made giant leaps forward, we are starting to find some organisation, so we must continue along this path and improve everything we did today.
“We want to play good football and make the fans happy, as so many of them travelled to see us today and I told the players they really are an extra weapon for us.”
President Aurelio De Laurentiis commented on X, formerly known as Twitter, straight after the match.
“Congratulations to the team for this wonderful reawakening!”