This past Saturday, the ‘Carlo Ancelotti Era’ at Napoli kicked off in Rome at the Stadio Olimpico versus Lazio, with the visitors leaving the Italian capital victorious by the scoreline 2-1.
Polish striker Arkadiusz Milik leveled terms on the stroke of half-time for the Partenopei after Ciro Immobile opened his account by taking full advantage of abject defending on behalf of Ancelotti’s men. A curling effort from Lorenzo Insigne towards Thomas Strakosha’s back-post ultimately proved decisive in the end, and while Napoli weren’t nearly as sharp or refined as Ancelotti would have liked, you cannot argue with a victory to open the new campaign.
Aside from the positive result away from the San Paolo, Ancelotti and Napoli must be delighted in the performance of captain Marek Hamsik who took to an unfamiliar role at the base of the midfield as the club’s ‘regjsta,’ – a role commanded with class by the departed Italian Jorginho – and exceeded expectations.
Since Jorginho headed to London, much was made about who would occupy his pivotal role. Yet, in his debut as the deep-lying playmaker, Hamsik quelled initial doubt, looking like he had been holding the midfield down for years. In the opening 45 minutes, Hamsik wandered a bit and strayed from armouring the back line, but as a creator who made a career as a playmaker in advanced areas, perhaps Ancelotti trusts the Slovakian enough with that license to roam in certain situations.
As the match progressed, Napoli settled into a rhythm, as did Hamsik who looked composed and kept possession moving about quite comfortably, both with the square balls as well as those vertical passes to stretch the field. The 31-year old’s head was on a swivel as he linked with his centre backs while also maintaining his defensive shape which was refreshing to see considering his natural tendencies to drive forward and be an outlet further up the pitch.
It goes without saying that judging performances can be subjective and should not be limited to just statistics. But for the sake of supporting Hamsik’s debut as being quality, his 88% pass completion (75/85) tells us he has slowly but surely begun grasping the assignments and responsibility that comes with this new role.
At various spells throughout the pre-season, Hamsik did not exude much of what we witnessed against a difficult and well-coached Lazio side on Saturday. Yet, for everything Hamsik provides technically as the soul of Napoli football, he is an intelligent footballer who is fully aware of what it will take to make this positional transition a successful one.
After the final whistle, Hamsik’s agent Martin Petras praised his client’s performance, telling Radio Kiss Kiss that “he still needs to show improvement in his new role, but it is inevitable that he will.”
At the 70th minute, Hamsik was relieved for youngster Amadou Diawara who entered the season as a real contender to replace Jorginho and has been groomed to fill the void long-term. The Guinean turned in a solid shift, with crisp and composed ball circulation in the final 20 minutes, as well as demonstrating the defensive traits required of this role that Hamsik does not currently boast.
Although Hamsik passed his first test, you will not see him go the distance much this season especially with Ancelotti having the luxury of going to the well with the likes of Marko Rog and newcomer Fabian Ruiz to offer flexibility in the midfield.
Hamsik will undoubtedly continue to share time with Diawara seeing as there are three competitions on the schedule. Expect Ancelotti to operate with some sort of rotation here to ensure his captain does not get overworked, while also entrusting a talent like Diawara receives the mandatory minutes in a heavier workload.
At the moment, Ancelotti and Napoli will be pleased to know that Hamsik once again looks destined to make another seamless positional transition, just as he has done several times throughout his career in Naples.
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