Our series of 2015-16 mid-season reviews continues with a look at Serie A contenders Napoli.
The story so far
It has been mostly good for Napoli this year in terms of early season form, threatening at the top of the Serie A table. Currently sitting just one point off the lead in third place, they have been making the most of a very slow start to the season for Juventus this time around. However, with the Juventus revival coming around with a long current win streak has now put the top three under pressure.
Napoli seems to be feeling the effects of this with inconsistencies interrupting their successful progress, recently dropping points in games that they should not be, or by the statistics that they should winning.
The issue for them has really been their defence. Attack has been relatively set with only the occasional stall in matches. Sorting out the issues at the back will be key to the rest of their campaign.
The manager
Maurizio Sarri is doing a good job in his first year as Napoli coach, based on their ladder position. It is a little difficult to judge the progress of Sarri considering that the team has been relatively set since the first couple of matches and there have been very few key injuries.
One key thing in the coaches favour is that he does not ever take it easy and if the team gets a lead he will not bring on another defender in most cases. After figuring out that Jorginho was a better starter than Mirko Valdifiori, or that Christian Maggio should be on the bench, tactically he has been well set for most teams, especially in some of the big clashes.
Sarri’s performance is now down to this half of the season, with powerhouse Juventus biting at their heels. He has not been a manager that has done anything radical in a game when they trail, but may have his moment in the future
Standout player
This is now a much easier call after the November break. Although Lorenzo Insigne is a world-class name and has been playing well, his limited playing time and the fact that Gonzalo Higuain is on absolute fire means there is just no match.
There is almost no competition for Higuain throughout the league as he currently sits on a total of 16 goals from 17 games, the next closest player standing on 10 goals. The Argentine is on track to match the Serie A record of goals scored in a season, if not break it if he continues in this fashion.
He is dangerous in any attacking position and can score some unlikely goals. His highlight reel from the campaign has already been incredible and defences simply have not been able to do a thing to stop him.
Gonzalo Higuain has now scored 49 goals in Serie A since joining Napoli, more than any other player.
"GONZALO!" pic.twitter.com/B842g14e1E
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) December 6, 2015
Prediction
There was some early calls for a Napoli title challenge that still continue now, however, with the threat of an inform Juventus as well as a total mush at the top of the table, it is going to be a tough second-half to the season.
It is going to require a real lack of dropped poinst from Napoli to take the title, but a more realistic goal is to end up in an automatic Champions League spot, which is very possible for the Neapolitans.
Higuain will continue his scoring run and could very well get into the 30 goals range considering how he has been playing and if he stays fit.
Overall, Napoli will go close to the title how it stands, but will miss out by a couple of points in a closely fought top four.
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