"It makes me happy to have a strong team and Napoli are. The boys have to clear their heads to be able to play the football they are capable of: we'll try in the match against a great Barcelona. A match we want to win."
These are Francesco Calzona's first words as new coach of Napoli, 24 hours before the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 against the Catalan club.
The former deputy in blue of Sarri and Spalletti met the players today and asked everyone to have the same attitude.
"I found a team - he explained - that made itself available immediately. We exchanged a few words because now we need the facts immediately. They are needed first of all by the fans, from whom we ask nothing, because they are a special audience and we must make them proud, we want to make them happy with our performances. They know that a coach can change little in a team in 24 hours, but we have to accelerate the learning process: I told the players that we have no more excuses, we have to improve our position. Let's start now , from the Champions League round of 16 against Barcelona who have had some difficult moments but are strong. I come to this match happy to be here in Naples. On the ring road my adrenaline rose: I make my debut straight away against a strong opponent but it doesn't scare me , because Napoli is a strong team, they must rediscover some concepts to give their best."
Calzona is looking for "a new identity in the team and if I wasn't able to make my mark on Napoli in three months I would feel like a failure. But we also have to get results, because we are aiming for a place in the table for the new Champions League".
From the training point of view, Calzona is waiting for the last step for a team which however is ready to welcome Osimhen back to the center of the attack, looking for that counterattack which has often punished the Catalan defense and which works well with the Nigerian, with Kvaratskhelia and Politano.
"We will see - explains Calzona - the conditions of Osimhen, who trained with the team regularly today. Then we will see how they feel, I am also talking about Traoré who is not at 100%".
Calzona proudly admits that he has learned a lot from the two coaches most loved by the Azzurri fans in recent years, Maurizio Sarri and Luciano Spalletti: "I worked with great coaches who passed on concepts to me that will help me in my future. Then I put my own effort into it, but in my experience I have three important coaches, because I also add Eusebio Di Francesco."
Calzona begins his season with Di Lorenzo next to him: "When you change coach for the third time - explains the captain - it means that something is wrong, the team is aware of this, we have become aware of having to do more. Now we we will get to work with the new coach to get us all out of a situation in which we are not happy, the disappointment belongs to all of us, now let's do our best to get out of this situation. I also thank Mazzarri, we have spoken and we are sorry, we know that when the coach changes, it's a defeat for the club, the coach and the team. We had recently lost the enthusiasm we had last year, now we react like professionals and we are at the new coach's disposal, we try to put that little bit into play that the coach was able to convey to us and to have a great match."
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