Carlo Ancelotti was never likely to revolutionise the way Napoli played. Appointed head coach in the summer, his challenge was always going to be retaining whatever made the team so effective under Maurizio Sarri while introducing a less rigid philosophy.
The downside to this was that arguably the greatest Plan A in European football would be diluted. The upside was that a whole host of other plans would be brought in as alternatives. This has been seen already in Napoli's four Serie A games so far; while their control of possession is weaker, they are far more capable of switching their approach between and during games.
With three wins coming against Lazio, Milan and Fiorentina offset by one defeat – 3-0 away to Sampdoria – the subtle transition from Sarri to Ancelotti is well underway. Here we break down the tactical modifications made under the new boss.
JORGINHO OUT, HAMSIK IN
Sarri took Jorginho with him to Chelsea in the summer transfer window, leaving Napoli without their star No.6. This role was immediately filled by club captain and icon Marek Hamsik, who moved further back and inward from his old left central midfield berth.
Hamsik isn't as fast or energetic as he once was – last term he was substituted in almost every game he started. However, his passing range, control and intelligence are all still intact; all of these qualities will help him fill the void left by Jorginho's departure.
There have been similarly noteworthy changes in personnel elsewhere. Jose Reina has left, meaning the goalkeeper spot has been rotated between David Ospina and Orestis Karnezis. Neither are as comfortable as their predecessor with the ball at feet, which could be an issue when sweeping up behind a high defensive line and when building possession from the back against a high press.
Serious spending aided the squad in other departments, however. Simone Verdi arrived from Bologna to offer an alternative wide outlet to the more direct Jose Callejon on the right, while Fabian Ruiz – educated by the positional play of Quique Setien at Real Betis – brings greater dynamism to midfield.
FLUIDITY IN MIDFIELD
Under Sarri's auspices, Napoli build-up was based mainly on the triangle of Jorginho in front of centre-backs Raul Albiol and Kalidou Koulibaly. This trident would remain compact, allowing for quick combinations to play out of pressure and drawing the opposition in towards them to open up space for line-breaking forward passes.
Without Jorginho, Ancelotti has implemented a more fluid approach. While Hamsik is seen as the new No.6 and often takes up the same positions Jorginho used to take up, he also rotates with fellow central midfielders Allan and Piotr Zielinski to confuse opposition marking.
During Sarri's reign, opponents would often specifically look to cover Jorginho either through man marking or intense pressing to disrupt or divert Napoli possession. But this season the central midfielders have frequently rotated the deepest role between them, meaning the opposition can't simply focus on covering or pressing one man.
This more dynamic approach means that if the opposition do aim to remove Hamsik's influence in build-up, the Slovakian can simply alternate with Allan or Zielinski, dragging his marker with him and freeing up space for one of his teammates to receive from Koulibaly or Albiol.
A NEW PRESSING FOCUS
Previously, Napoli utilised an option-oriented zonal defensive strategy. This meant that they moved collectively before pressing with a focus on cutting off the opposition ball-player's available passing options. The aim of this was to force the opponent to go backwards or long or, even better, to intercept a pass.
An example of this approach can be seen below. Here, Napoli are defending in their usual 4-5-1 shape under Sarri. Juventus' possession goes from left to right centre-back, so Dries Mertens moves to press the receiving right centre-back whilst simultaneously bending his run to cut off the passing lane to the left centre-back.
Lorenzo Insigne moves up to press the Juve right-back whilst also cutting off the pass to their right winger, while Hamsik steps across to block the pass through to their right central midfielder. Jorginho moves to cover behind Hamsik, while Allan looks to step across Juve's left central midfielder. However, Jose Callejon, circled above, remains close to his right flank. He does this because he wants to cut off any potential switch of play to the far side.
Since Ancelotti took charge, the defensive priority has changed. Under his watch, Napoli players focus more on their opposite men when pressing. This can be seen below in the recent 1-0 win over Fiorentina.
Prior to the situation depicted above, Allan moved up to close down his man, forcing him to pass backwards. Mertens then stepped up to press the receiving centre-back, who passed to the right-back. Piotr Zielinski then pressed the right-back, while Hamsik shifted across to close down the right-sided central midfielder. Elsewhere, both Callejon and Insigne can be seen remaining close to their nearest opponent.
Evidently, each player is under instruction not to cut off passing options, but to get close to their opposite men. The aim now is not to intercept a pass, but to get close enough to tackle or force a mistake by quickly taking away the receiver's time and space on the ball.
Some complications have arisen in this new approach, such as two players going to the same man and leaving gaps elsewhere for the opposition to play into. Ancelotti will need to eliminate those errors if his side are to be as effective a pressing unit as Sarri's Napoli were.
VERSATILITY
One of the greatest frustrations regarding Napoli between 2015/16 and 2017/18 was that Sarri almost never changed his tactics. After a brief flirtation with the 4-diamond-2 that worked so well for him at Empoli, he went to 4-3-3 and stuck by the system through thick and thin over the three years that followed.
Ancelotti is less dogmatic and has already altered his shape of choice several times depending on the situation. Of course some of the old 'Sarrismo' dynamics remain – most of the attacks come down the left-hand side, while Callejon still makes excellent blind side runs from the right when Insigne cuts in to cross (see below), but the team is undoubtedly edging into a more versatile era.
When 2-1 down at home to Milan in the second league game of the season, Ancelotti switched from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2, playing all four of Callejon, Insigne, Mertens and Arek Milik. The defensive gaps this created in midfield were a risk taken in order to press higher and overload the opposition back line in attack. Napoli went on to win 3-2.
In the defeat to Sampdoria, a new of possession was seen. Previously, Napoli were associated with quick, short passes and vertical balls through the opposition's defensive block, but on this occasion they regularly utilised long diagonals to switch play and exploit space on the far side against a compact defence. An example of this is shown below. Here, Verdi cuts in and plays a long ball over to Mario Rui, who attacks the space in front of him before attempting a cross.
Against Sampdoria, Ancelotti's side looked to exploit space available in wide areas. Then, against Fiorentina, they used width to create space in the central and inside channels. Callejon and Rui occupied the flanks, right-back Elseid Hysaj stayed deeper, while Zielinski moved between the lines behind a fluid front two of Insigne and Mertens. Defensively, this system was a 4-4-2, but offensively it appeared a flexible 3-4-1-2.
Ancelotti explained his tactics in a post-match interview with Sky Sport Italia, saying: "We tried to find width with Mario Rui in the first half, with Jose Callejon a little more open and Elseid Hysaj hanging back. We tried to put players between the lines."
The same system was deployed in Napoli's most recent match, a Champions League clash with Red Star in Belgrade. Whether it becomes their first-choice shape going forward remains to be seen, but the fact there are alternative plans at least makes them less predictable. This unpredictability will likely be the greatest difference between Napoli under Sarri and Napoli under Ancelotti.
