Sarrismo: Evolution & revolution
With Maurizio Sarri’s Napoli reign possibly ending this summer, Vilizar Yakimov takes a look at how the Partenopei have evolved since Walter Mazzarri’s departure in 2013.
With the long season approaching its end and with just three rounds left, Napoli currently find themselves in a tricky situation. The Partenopei are trailing Juventus by four points, but missing out on yet another Scudetto might not be the biggest loss that the southerners will suffer at the end of the season. With multiple sources reporting that Maurizio Sarri is about to leave the club in the summer, Napoli might lose their most precious asset - their playing style.
In order to understand how important Sarri’s style and tactics have been for the development of the club, we need to go back a few years ago and take a look at the times when Walter Mazzarri and Rafa Benitez were in charge of the club.
Before Benitez came in 2013, Napoli were a team completely incapable of playing any different formation than Mazzarri’s favourite 3-5-2. The setup was working wonders in Serie A as the likes of Juan Zuniga and Christian Maggio would boss the flanks, providing cover at the back, as well as tasty balls into the opposition’s penalty box, which were perfect for a young Edinson Cavani, arguably the best striker in the League at the time.
In his first full season at the club, Mazzarri did a remarkable job and managed to finish third in Serie A, which was Napoli’s highest league finish since 1989-90, when Diego Maradona’s magic lead the Partenopei to the second Scudetto in their history. The unorthodox 3-5-2, which the tactician used, often caught opponents unprepared and helped Cavani score a remarkable 33 goals - a new club record.
The following season saw Napoli win the Coppa Italia by beating Juventus in the Final, but Mazzarri’s tactics were no longer a surprise in the League, which resulted in a fifth-place finish. At the time, Cavani had already formed a formidable partnership with Ezequiel Lavezzi in attack, but the southerners’ systematic flaws often left them exposed at the back.
In what turned out to be the 56-year-old’s final season at the helm, the Partenopei managed to launch a Scudetto challenge and earned a record-breaking 78 points in Serie A - the highest tally in their history. However, Lavezzi’s departure, as well as Antonio Conte’s improvements on the 3-5-2 at Juventus meant the Vesuviani were unable to lift the Serie A title, and despite a yet another incredible season by Cavani, who scored 38 goals in all competition, it was clear that Mazzarri’s approach was no longer efficient.
In 2013, Rafa Benitez came in and along with him, multiple changes took place at the San Paolo. Cavani departed for Paris Saint-Germain, but the arrivals of Gonzalo Higuain, Dries Mertens and Jose Callejon made sure that the Uruguyan’s goals weren’t missed. Two other Spaniards arrived in order to improve their defence as Pepe Reina replaced the shaky Morgan De Sanctis, while Raul Albiol was signed from Real Madrid. Napoli had become a completely different side.
With the 3-5-2 out of the picture, Benitez was switching between a 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 setup in order to get the best out of his talented forwards and midfielders. Marek Hamsik had already established himself as one of the finest players in Italy and Jorginho’s arrival allowed the Slovakian to occupy space behind the striker. Napoli quickly became one of the most attractive sides in Europe, but consistency was an issue and the Partenopei finished third. However, the signs were good as Benitez managed to bring home another Coppa Italia.
Everybody was expecting this Napoli to excel in the Spaniard’s second season, but the team suffered a significant decline in the League as they finished fifth. Defending was a real issue as, despite their plethora of goals, the Partenopei conceded the most in the top 10. Winning the Supercoppa on penalties against Juve was a consolation, but disappointing defeats in Europe - against Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League playoffs and going out to Dnipro in the the semi-finals of the Europa League ruined Napoli’s season. That’s when Sarri came in.
The ex-Empoli boss implemented his own ideas and we all know what happened after that - Higuain became one of the deadliest strikers on the planet, Lorenzo Insigne and Hamsik developed remarkable leadership qualities and Kalidou Koulibaly turned into a real lynchpin in Napoli’s backline.
During his first two years, Sarri broke the Vesuviani’s record points tally twice by achieving 82 and then 86, which is currently the highest tally in the club’s history. Ironically, this resulted in a third-place finish as Roma managed to beat their own record and finished with 87, which was four less than Juve.
As important as points are, more important for Napoli was the way Sarri managed to achieve those results. The 59-year-old’s style became a trademark, not only in Italy but also Europe, winning the hearts of purists, Coaches and players around the globe. However, 'Sarrisimo’ aside, the tactician’s biggest achievement was the consistency that he established - something that was alien for Napoli in previous years. His possession-based football often left opponents with no chance of threatening Reina’s goal, while the fluid attacking moves between the Partenopei’s front three of Mertens, Insigne and Callejon were a handful for any defence.
Sarri’s ability to evolve from the departure of Higuain and Arkadiusz Milik’s unfortunate injuries are also a huge achievement as the Napoli teams of the past would have never been able to overcome a season-ending injury to Cavani, for example.
Just like every Coach, Sarri has his flaws, but his importance in the history of the club must not be underestimated. His, at times absurd, refusal to rotate his players should not ruin the legacy that he’ll leave, regardless of if he will this summer or at some point in the future.
With 84 points and still three games left, the chances are that Sarri will break Napoli’s record for most points in a single season for a third consecutive year. While this would probably not be enough to win the Scudetto his side so crave, the Tuscan’s reign should not be judged only by the trophies that he won or the ones that he hasn’t. Regardless of the outcome of the title race, in case Sarri leaves, his ability to build on and improve Benitez’s Napoli mean that not only will he be remembered as one of the finest tacticians in the southerners’ colourful history but also as one of the most colourful heroes in the club’s folklore.
