Struggling Napoli sacked Walter Mazzarri on Monday and introduced in Slovakia coach Francesco Calzona simply two days earlier than internet hosting Barcelona within the Champions League.
The 62-year-old Mazzarri turned the second man to be despatched packing this season by the ailing Italian champions.
Mazzarri took cost in November after Rudi Garcia was dismissed however Napoli then fell to ninth in Serie A forward of Wednesday’s final 16, first leg with barca on the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
“I thank Walter Mazzarri, a friend of the De Laurentiis family and Napoli, for having helped the team in a tricky period,” mentioned Napoli proprietor Aurelio De Laurentiis on X, previously Twitter.
De Laurentiis confirmed that Calzona has been employed, reportedly till the tip of the season, and can be in cost on Wednesday evening.
“It’s always painful to sack a friend,” mentioned De Laurentiis in a brief interview with Sky Sport.
“But we need to consider that in Naples you have to give Napoli fans something extra. Now we’re going to try to do that with Francesco Calzona.”
Calzona guided Slovakia to Euro 2024 however has an enormous job on his arms as he returns to Napoli, the place he was an assistant beneath Maurizio Sarri and through Luciano Spalletti’s trophy-less first season with the membership.
The 55-year-old will reportedly hold his job with Slovakia whereas additionally attempting to tug Napoli again up the desk after the disappointing finish to Mazzarri’s temporary second spell in command of southern Italy’s greatest membership.
Mazzarri helped return Napoli to the higher echelons of Italian soccer between 2009 and 2013.
He guided Napoli to the 2012 Italian Cup, beating undefeated league champions Juventus within the ultimate to win the membership’s first trophy in over twenty years.
Mazzarri left in May 2013 after ending second in Italy’s prime flight with an exciting workforce which boasted Ezequiel Lavezzi, Marek Hamsik and Edinson Cavani in assault.
He had a a lot much less spectacular three months this time round nevertheless, failing to get something out of a workforce which romped to a historic third Scudetto final season.
Since title-winning coach Spalletti stepped down within the shut season, chaos has reigned in Naples.
Napoli are a whopping 27 factors behind league leaders Inter Milan after successful simply 4 of 12 league matches since Mazzarri took over, amassing 15 factors.
That is even lower than the 21 that Garcia managed from his 12 league matches in cost, a complete that had Napoli fourth when the Frenchman was dismissed.
The possibilities of Napoli getting again into and subsequent season’s revamped Champions League are exceedingly slim, even when Italy wins a fifth spot.
Napoli are 9 factors behind each fourth-placed Atalanta and Bologna in fifth, and have proven little signal of having the ability to claw again that hole, failing to attain in 9 of Mazzarri’s matches in all competitions.
After Barcelona, Calzona may have a comparatively easy debut in Serie A, with fixtures towards relegation-threatened Cagliari and Sassuolo.
Source web site: www.hindustantimes.com
