Azzurri to shock the Old Lady of Italian football?

Napoli have enjoyed a great start to the season so far, and continued that two nights with a sound 2-1 victory over struggling AC Milan at the San Siro. Taking that result, Napoli have now won 4 games out of 4, only 1 of 2 teams still with a 100% record. Napoli have been one of the dominant forces within Italian football over the last few years. They tend to start the season off well but then drift away from the title race in the second half of the season.

The summer transfer market seen the sale of Edison Cavani to PSG and there were fears that would be the end of an era. However, Napoli went about their transfer business very professionally, replacing Cavani with Gonzalo Higuain. As well as Higuain, Napoli also brought in Jose Callejon, Raul Albiol and Pepe Reina.

Last year Napoli also lost one of their best players in Lavezzi, who also signed for PSG. The loss of a teams two best players will hurt, but it seems that Napoli are coping well without them both. Napoli managed to keep hold of Marek Hamsik, one of the best midfielders in Europe at the moment. They also managed to keep hold of Geokhan Inler and Goran Pandev. In what seemed like it would be a bad transfer window, it has actually turned out to be a very good one.

The Azzurri so far have won 3-0 against Bologna, 4-2 against Chievo, 2-0 against Atalanta and 2-1 against AC Milan domestically. The only other side to have won all four games so far are Roma. Napoli are also competing in the Champions League this season and kicked off their adventure with an impressive 2-1 victory over last years finalists Borussia Dortmund. This Napoli team have got plenty of goals in them this season, and you can see that with the results so far. At least two goals scored in the fives games played so far, you can expect this form to continue.

It’s not taken Higuain long to settle into Italian football having scored 4 goals already. Higuain is already looking like he will replace the goals of Cavani. The other new signing, Callejon, has also taken to Italian football with 3 goals to his name already. Hamsik has scored 4 goals and I think retaining his services has been the best piece of business from Napoli. The other two goals scored this season have been by Insigne and Britos. You can see already that Higuain, Callejon and Hansik will be the three key players this season.

The addition of Pepe Reina is also another great piece of transfer activity by Napoli, and Reina has already done the impossible, by saving a Mario Balotelli penalty. Balotelli had scored every penalty he had taken before playing Napoli, 21 to be precise, but failed to find the back of the net. Napoli are unbeaten at home now for 12 games domestically, including two games against Champions Juventus and Roma last season. If Napoli can keep this form up then they’ll certainly give Juventus a run for the title.

I think that bringing in Rafael Benitez as manager has also been a good move by the Partenopei. The Azzurri have won Serie A twice in their history, way back in 1986/87 and 1989/90. They have won the Italian Cup four times and the Italian Super Cup once. In 1988/89 Napoli also won the UEFA Cup.

It’s not all been well for the Azzurri though over the years. In 2004, the club were announced bankrupt. As punishment, they were put into the third division and made to work their way up. But it was a successful three year run back into the top flight, winning back to back titles with ease. Since playing in the third division in 2004, Napoli are now the 15th richest club in the world.

Up next for Napoli are Sassuolo, Genoa, Livorno and Roma. In between these games they also play Arsenal in the Champions League. Arsenal should beware of the fact that Napoli have never failed to score in the nine games that they’ve played in the Champions League. The Partenopei have started the season brilliantly, and with the next three domestic games relatively easy, they can give of a statement of intent to the other giants in Italy. I said before the start of the season that Napoli would win the league this year. I stick by that still.