Joe Fischetti

On the 29th of December, Nikita Contini made his Serie A debut, replacing Alex Meret in the second half of Napoli’s scoreless draw against Monza.  Meret was forced to exit the match with a hamstring injury, while Napoli’s usual Number 2, Pierluigi Gollini, was kept out of the squad after suffering an ankle injury in the pre-match warm-up. It was a long-time coming for the SSC Napoli veteran. Nikita Baranovsky Contini was born in Cherkasy, Ukraine to a Ukrainian mother and Neopolitan father.  At the age of three, Contini and his family moved to Giugliano in Campania - the same…

With a scoreless draw to Monza on Friday, Napoli sit 8th in the Serie A table, 19 points adrift of their point total at this stage last season. Per Opta, it’s the Parternopei’s third-worst start to a season since returning to the top flight, after the 2007/08 and 2019/20 campaigns, when they earned 23 and 24 points, respectively.It is a dark period for Napoli, appearing even bleaker on the back of one of the greatest seasons in club history. Walter Mazzarri has done little to clean up the mess created by his predecessor, with only three victories in eight matches…

On Tuesday, Napoli bowed out of the Coppa Italia in the Round of 16 for the third consecutive season, losing 0-4 to Frosinone. It was Napoli’s worst home result in the tournament in 65 years (1958), when gli Azzurri suffered a 0-4 defeat to Lazio.With six home defeats already this season, the club (and its president), the coach and the players must all be held to account. No one knows whether Luciano Spalletti would have fulfilled his contract with Napoli had Aurelio De Laurentiis offered the Tuscan a pay increase. According to Spalletti, “sometimes, you part ways due to too…

With Union Berlin managing an away draw against 10-man Braga, Napoli needed at least a point against Real Madrid on Wednesday to guarantee a place in the Knockout Stage of the UEFA Champions League. Even in the absence of a number of Galácticos - Thibaut Courtois, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Éder Militão, Aurélien Tchouaméni, Eduardo Camavinga, Luka Modric and Vinicius Junior were all injured - a positive result at the Stadio Bernabéu was always going to be a difficult proposition.Yet, Napoli came within seven minutes (plus stoppage time) of doing just that. 19-year-old Nico Paz, who entered the match after Real Madrid…

October 7, 2023: the last time Union Berlin scored a goal.  August 26, 2023: the last time Union Berlin earned a point. On the face of it, Napoli’s 1-1 draw at the Maradona on Wednesday - already the fifth home match in which the Partenopei dropped points this season - was a terrible result. However, it wasn’t a terrible performance, at least on two-thirds of the pitch.   Napoli dictated the play, controlled the tempo, built up well using the entirety of the pitch and generated opportunities to score, but they struggled to find the back of the goal. Of their…

On Saturday, Napoli traveled to a half-empty Stadio Arechi and secured three important points with a 2-0 victory over Salernitana.  The opening quarter of the match might have been the Partenopei’s most positive period all season. The visitors put together some brilliant passages of play, where the triangles of Sarri and Spalletti finally returned.That period included Giacomo Raspadori’s third of the campaign, scored in the 13th minute. The goal was generated by Napoli pressing high and winning possession in the final third - another nostalgic throw-back to seasons-past. Per English World Feed commentator Simon Harding, it was the first time…

Between UEFA Euro qualifying and international friendlies, 11 Napoli players have been called up to their respective national teams for the current international break. Amir Rrahmani was not called up to the Kosovo national team and the central defender continues to recover from a thigh muscle injury. André-Frank Zambo Anguissa was called up to the Cameroon nation team, but is not expected to play in the Indomitable Lions' two friendly matches after suffering a muscular injury against Fiorentina. With the return of Domenico Berardi, Matteo Politano was left out of Luciano Spalletti's 27-man squad. Stay up-to-date on all Napoli players…

Rudi Garcia was outcoached by Vincenzo Italiano as Napoli suffered a 1-3 defeat to Fiorentina on Sunday, the Parternopei's third defeat at home this season. Here are four takeaways selected by Forza Napoli Press.OutcoachedRudi Garcia was simply out-coached and out-classed by Vincenzo Italiano on Sunday. With only two days of rest after Fiorentina’s Conference League match on Thursday, the ex-Spezia coach made seven changes to the squad he fielded against Ferencváros. Italiano boldly rested his top goalscorer Nico Gonzalez, playing Jonathan Ikone on the right wing instead. Nonetheless, Italiano made the necessary tactical adjustments to disrupt Napoli’s rhythm. Between the midfielders…

Rudi Garcia spoke to the media after Napoli’s 1-3 defeat to Udinese on Sunday. Forza Napoli Press provides a complete transcript of the press conference in English. Sky - Difficult evening, you lost it, you lost it badly, perhaps you even lost a bit of those certainties that you were trying to put together and find that identity on which you were working, the team also seemed a bit confused in the performance. Can you perhaps help us to read it?Garcia:  No, in my opinion we struggled to build from the back, but yes we lacked the lucidity to find Victor…