The 2015/2016 Calcio Saga II

Napoli is such a good team ffs . They always think ( and very quickly at that ) before they act and not just follow a blind scheme ; they keep hold and make use of their position so well and the bond in attack is obvious . Higuain has been absolutely insane this season , backed up by a midfield which knows how to create momentum and generally build up the play , but at the same time they won't complicate things , or be overconfident in their ability . So jealous of Sarri's Napoli , some real work being done there.

I mean , even their passing , from any player , you can see there's detail and requirements , it's obvious Sarri is demanding in this regard . Quick paced simple passes which sooner or later unbalance the opposition , no slow-bored ass passes that leaves time for opponents to walk into position , even if left unchallenged their passing is precise and quick . They won't hoof , unless there's a very distinct opportunity . Great transitions , thanks to their exceptional perception of positioning . And what's scary is that they don't even attack in heavy numbers most of the time , which means even if attacks don't lead to a goal , everyone's in place to defend / steal the ball anyway .

You let this Napoli to play their game at your own peril .

Criminal ref decision not to give the penalty for Acerbi's hand .. not only it was right in front of him too , Acerbi's hand altered the course of the ball which was pretty likely to end up very close to the Napoli player following on Higuain's trail (either Allan or Jorginho , need to see the replay again)

couldn't believe my eyes tbh

Pipita ffs

Dante wrote:Napoli is such a good team ffs . They always think ( and very quickly at that ) before they act and not just follow a blind scheme ; they keep hold and make use of their position so well and the bond in attack is obvious . Higuain has been absolutely insane this season , backed up by a midfield which knows how to create momentum and generally build up the play , but at the same time they won't complicate things , or be overconfident in their ability . So jealous of Sarri's Napoli , some real work being done there.

I mean , even their passing , from any player , you can see there's detail and requirements , it's obvious Sarri is demanding in this regard . Quick paced simple passes which sooner or later unbalance the opposition , no slow-bored ass passes that leaves time for opponents to walk into position , even if left unchallenged their passing is precise and quick . They won't hoof , unless there's a very distinct opportunity . Great transitions , thanks to their exceptional perception of positioning . And what's scary is that they don't even attack in heavy numbers most of the time , which means even if attacks don't lead to a goal , everyone's in place to defend / steal the ball anyway .

You let this Napoli to play their game at your own peril .

Let's not talk about the incredible defensive work and the pressing, which always forces the opposition to make mistakes. All outfield players (from Albiol to Higuain) work hard to win the ball back, all are players with good tactical discipline. Some say that Sarri should try Gabbiadini as right forward, but Callejon does an incredible amount of defensive work and he hardly ever runs out of stamina, that's why Sarri prefers the latter. He runs all over that right flank, almost as a 2nd right-back at times.

They deserve the 1st place ,nothing to add about it.
I hope Milan will stop Fiorentina today for our 3rd place trophy (:

Long season ahead still Robes. Don't give up

Robespierre wrote:They deserve the 1st place ,nothing to add about it.
I hope Milan will stop Fiorentina today for our 3rd place trophy (:

Rest easy, we haven't beaten Fio at home in a few years, not about to change now lol

ES wrote:

Robespierre wrote:They deserve the 1st place ,nothing to add about it.
I hope Milan will stop Fiorentina today for our 3rd place trophy (:

Rest easy, we haven't beaten Fio at home in a few years, not about to change now lol

Fio are our bogey team. Even in the Allegri days, Fio beat us more often than not.

Since 1958-59 there has been only once that someone broke 30 goals in one season in Serie A (Toni 05-06).

I guess this should be easy for Higuain this year. 20 matches 20 goals, thats pretty astonishing.

Robespierre wrote:They deserve the 1st place ,nothing to add about it.
I hope Milan will stop Fiorentina today for our 3rd place trophy (:

They certainly do . And if they keep playing like they have , it could well stay that way for quite some time . I mean , just looking at their schedule.. have you seen the rest of their home games for the rest of the season ?

(Napoli-Sassuolo 3-1)
Napoli - Carpi
Napoli - Milan
Napoli - Chievo
Napoli - Genoa
Napoli - Hellas Verona
Napoli - Bologna
Napoli - Atalanta
Napoli - Frosinone

Look at this schedule at home ffs   

Let's consider a few things .

Excluding their last game , the Sassuolo match , which is part of the 2nd half of the season , from their 41 points in the first half of the season , 26 of those came at home and they played the rest of the top 5 there already , and , not only they won against all of them except drawing with Roma 0-0 , they are undefeated at San Paolo this season , 8 wins , 2 draws (Roma,Sampdoria). Well there can be little doubt left whatsoever , that's surely Scudetto material right there , going by results. Going by performances too , it only enhances the notion . They will be in for it , all the way .

This schedule could very well mean , on home matches alone , Napoli could very realistically manage another staggering amount of points in the 2nd part of the season , and even the whole 27 points at home shouldn't be excluded .. Perhaps , minimum 25 points , 8 wins , 1 draw. Somewhat bold , but then again , is it really ? They already did absolutely great earning themsleves 26 the first time around and coming into this 2nd half of the season , this time the opposition at home will be of lesser quality ; the necessity to win shall be even bigger for Napoli legitimately going for the Scudetto and some of these teams are piss poor away from home , with some others just being shit all the way.

It can always play out very differently but i honestly fail to see which of these teams will win against Napoli at San Paolo when even the top 5 couldn't do it , especially if Napoli keep playing like they have . It will have to be something we can't foresee , maybe injuries to key players and such things. Even then , 1 draw is probably the worst they can do against such limited opposition. Sassuolo was already one of the toughest home games in that schedule and Napoli was by far the better team .

Finally , on away games , they managed 4 wins , 3 draws and 2 defeats , earning them 15 points . So , 26 points at home and 15 points away , 41 overall in the first half of the season . It's worth to consider one of their only two defeats came in the first match against Sassuolo , when they had yet to pick up steam under Sarri , it took them a while to get it together. That's not the case anymore and won't be the case again this season.

Let's see how they do , something tells me they have what it takes to finish the season unbeaten at San Paolo , if not win anyone left to play against them there.

The flip side of that home schedule is that they have to face all the tough teams away from home, doesn't seem like such a positive thing to me.

Maxi Lopez has been kicked out of the Torino team practices until he gets his weight under control - he is currently nearing 100 kg

http://bucket3.clanacion.com.ar/anexos/fotos/28/calcio-de-italia-2142428.jpg

BarrileteCosmico wrote:The flip side of that home schedule is that they have to face all the tough teams away from home, doesn't seem like such a positive thing to me.

Why not?

They didn't do that great away from home the first time around either ; fairly decent , not bad at all , not anything great either. It will be one of the same again , more or less , even when they have all the rest of the top away . Even so , that's like 4-5 games we're talking about , there's another 5 away matches where Napoli will be favorites to win as well and will probably get a decent amount of points from there in any case. Or , at the very least from there too.

Besides , that was also part of my point. All the more incentive to win their home games at all costs , which are admittedly theirs to spoil . In any case, they've been particularly strong at home , even the rest of the top 5 couldn't win in San Paolo . Isn't this positive for Napoli , to have no one at their level at home for the remainder of the season . I've seen these teams , if Napoli doesn't suffer any major setbacks , they ain't taking one point in San Paolo .

Ultimately however , playing away from San Paolo hasn't been their best , so it won't really make that much of a difference for them if half their away games include the rest of the top 5, unless they totally bend over , no . It's San Paolo where they are at their strongest and where they earned the most points , so i'd say it's pretty positive overall going into these home games facing far weaker teams than them, it's almost a safe heaven and if not anything else, a guaranteed and proven way to fighting for the Scudetto till the end.

In the end , we're talking about 8 remaining very doable home matches against what , 5 difficult away at best(let's include Lazio too , 5 it is..)? Even if they lose most of it and fare better in their other 5 away matches and still win all/almost all of their home games , they are still winning the title. Simply doing more or less the exact same as the first half of the season can win them the league , so yes , pretty big advantage as far as schedule goes to have your main source of points , home games, guaranteed to give you another staggering amount like that.

BarrileteCosmico wrote:Maxi Lopez has been kicked out of the Torino team practices until he gets his weight under control - he is currently nearing 100 kg

http://bucket3.clanacion.com.ar/anexos/fotos/28/calcio-de-italia-2142428.jpg

dead

Dante wrote:

Robespierre wrote:They deserve the 1st place ,nothing to add about it.
I hope Milan will stop Fiorentina today for our 3rd place trophy (:

They certainly do . And if they keep playing like they have , it could well stay that way for quite some time . I mean , just looking at their schedule.. have you seen the rest of their home games for the rest of the season ?

(Napoli-Sassuolo 3-1)
Napoli - Carpi
Napoli - Milan
Napoli - Chievo
Napoli - Genoa
Napoli - Hellas Verona
Napoli - Bologna
Napoli - Atalanta
Napoli - Frosinone

Their away schedule :
Sampdoria
Lazio
Juventus
Fiorentina
Palermo
Udinese
Inter
Roma
Torino

Compared to the other title 'contenders',the toughest away schedule by far.
They could rack up points in the home games alright but it aint gonna help their title ambitions if they cant be even half decent away from home.

And the fixtures you posted above were obviously their away games in the 1st part of the season.Not hard to be 'decent' away from home when you're mostly facing teams from the bottom half.

I'm officially throwing my support behind Napoli for scudetto.. I think it would be great for the league to see them win it, especially given that it's been decades as well since their last one.

They are playing with an insane amount of belief right now and they have a healthy amount of depth. Most importantly, they have a tactical plan for how to win that their opponents simply can't disrupt.

Pavoletti is GOAT

McLewis wrote:I'm officially throwing my support behind Napoli for scudetto.. I think it would be great for the league to see them win it, especially given that it's been decades as well since their last one.

They are playing with an insane amount of belief right now and they have a healthy amount of depth. Most importantly, they have a tactical plan for how to win that their opponents simply can't disrupt.

Congrats to Juve (:

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:

McLewis wrote:I'm officially throwing my support behind Napoli for scudetto.. I think it would be great for the league to see them win it, especially given that it's been decades as well since their last one.

They are playing with an insane amount of belief right now and they have a healthy amount of depth. Most importantly, they have a tactical plan for how to win that their opponents simply can't disrupt.

Congrats to Juve (:

FFS Moal you know me too well

DYBALAAAAAA YOU BEAUTY !

Udinese all over the place

Red card and peno.

This is ridiculous

Juve gonna walk the league again

10 wins in a row

ES or M99 , pls making the thread Congrats Juve for Serie A title or Serie A  title prepared etc .

McLewis wrote:I'm officially throwing my support behind Napoli for scudetto.. I think it would be great for the league to see them win it, especially given that it's been decades as well since their last one.

They are playing with an insane amount of belief right now and they have a healthy amount of depth. Most importantly, they have a tactical plan for how to win that their opponents simply can't disrupt.

Well anyone is better than Juve so it's clear my support among two it'd be even if they played hoofball under Mazzarri

Alex Sandro what a goal

Now who was that goat that said in the summer - This Juve is stronger then the one before. I think it was RG you GOAT

Another excellent game from Khedira has to be said.
Our best midfielder today.When fit, he has certainly delivered.