Serie A 2019/20: Napoli vs Udinese – tactical analysis | OneFootball

Despite winning the Coppa Italia final against Juventus last month, the return to football has not been kind for Napoli, so far they have only managed to accumulate four wins out of seven games which has seen them drop down a position in the table. This type of form from Gennaro Gattuso’s men has come as quite a surprise, considering that before the forced break they looked like a convincing side with players who were willing to work above and beyond for the club on the pitch.

This was reflected through their wins against Roma and Juventus earlier on in the Serie A season. However, now the squad seems a bit uninspired and uninterested about the proceedings in the league, which is something Gatusso will look to fix sooner rather than later, especially as his side still have tough fixtures against the likes of Lazio and Inter.

Udinese on the other hand, haven’t had the best of seasons, as they have been inconsistent throughout which is why they are currently 16th place in the league. Having said that, they are six points above the relegation places, which is something that they will defiantly settle for, considering the fact that some of their performances this season have not warranted Serie A survival. Their 7-1 loss against Atalanta is a fixture that particularly stands out. Even so, having been dragged through this season by manager Luca Gotti, Udinese will look forward towards the end of the season, where they can reflect and start from scratch, in the hope for better fortune next season in Serie A.

Nonetheless, in this tactical analysis, I will discuss the tactics used by both managers and provide an analysis of how Napoli were able to defeat the struggling Udinese.

Lineups

Udinese set up in their preferred 3-5-2 formation with both Ilija Nestorovski and Kevin Lasagna leading the line, while Marvin Zeegelaar and Jens Larsen formed the wing-backs. The central roles were made up with Seko Fofana, Walace, and Rodrigo De Paul. Finally, in defence, Bram Nuytinck, Sebastian De Maio, and Rodrigo Becão formed the back three.

Napoli’s attacking play

During this fixture, Napoli were very clever to utilise the width of their full-backs to bypass the two pressing forwards from Udinese. By playing the ball wide they would be able to get them into an advantageous position in between Udinese’s two lines of pressure, where they then use passing moves and combinations to penetrate the second defensive line. In the image below we can see just how much space the full-backs had out wide to progress play into the opponents half.

From this position, the Udinese wing-back (Larsen) and right-sided central midfielder (De Paul) press the players from Napoli as they believe that they can catch them out in a pressing trap. However, by doing this it opens up space for Insigne behind this defensive to receive the ball, where he can then link up with the other two attackers in which a 3 v 3 can then be created against Udinese’s back-line. Despite this, in the end, the chance fails to materialise.

Here we can see yet again the passing configuration in place with the press being applied.

Udinese’s defensive structure

As already highlighted in this tactical analysis, Napoli predominantly played the ball wide to bypass Udinese’s pressing structure. This was because Udinese deployed two defensive blocks that were relatively compact, which made it harder for Napoli to play in between the lines and create passing opportunities within the central areas. Specifically, Napoli’s central midfielders were completely taken out of the game due to the nature of Udinese’s system, which made key players such as Lobotka and Ruiz redundant during the build-up phase.

Udinese’s reliance on transitions

Throughout this game, Napoli did well to limit Udinese’s creativity due to their long spells in possession which significantly hindered the visitors’ time on the ball. Because of this, they often looked towards transitional moments to create their chances, as they knew that the majority of Napoli players would be caught off guard and out of position, which would give them the best chance of scoring.

In order to achieve this, they adopted a sporadic press in which they would only press the Napoli players if they could achieve numerical superiority. In doing this they had a far greater chance of dispossessing the opposition and creating chances on the transition.

From this, they were able to get the ball in a good position just inside the box, where they had the opportunity to cross the ball into a dangerous area. However, in the end, the cross was gathered by David Ospina and the attack was over. Nonetheless, this scenario does highlight how Udinese attempted to use aggressive pressing tactics in order to create chances and pressurise Napoli.

Napoli’s use of zone 14

As this game progressed, Napoli looked to use the whole width of the pitch and the advanced positioning of the full-backs to help elongate Udinese’s tight defensive structure. In the image below we can see that both full-backs (Hysaj and Rui) have pushed up higher to help produce overloads in the wide areas, which then forces Udinese to commit numbers to their position once a pass is made out wide. Which consequently makes their central block less compact and allows for Napoli to play in between the half-spaces.

Conclusion

In this tactical analysis, I have provided an analysis of how the match-up between Inter and Torino played out and highlighted how both teams set up against each other. To conclude, after a few tactical switches by Gatusso, Napoli were able to dominate this game with 68.1% possession, while Udinese struggled to really adapt their approach after they scored their first goal. Nevertheless, Udinese will be looking to build from this next gameweek as they host Juventus, while Napoli will feel confident in getting a win against Parma at their next outing.