#countinho

[rmfantasysetpieces1]

Napoli's forward Victor Osimhen eyes the ball during the Italian Serie A football match between Empoli FC and SSC Napoli at the Carlo Castellani stadium in Empoli on Feb. 25. ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

How lowly Napoli became one of Europe’s best soccer teams by tearing up the business rule book Eric Reguly ERIC REGULYEUROPEAN BUREAU CHIEF ROME

When Maradona propelled SSC Napoli, an enduring mediocrity of Serie A football since it was formed in 1926, to the top of the Italian league in 1987, Naples erupted in street parties that went around the clock for days. Neapolitans were so thrilled by their first-ever scudetto that they took to teasing the dead. “You don’t know what you’re missing,” they scrawled on the walls of cemeteries.

After winning its second scudetto in 1990, Napoli, in its post-Maradona years, went into gradual decline followed by humiliating collapse. It was relegated to Serie B, then to third-tier Serie C. The debt-soaked team was declared bankrupt in 2004, an extraordinary fall from grace for one of Europe’s most famous football clubs in one of the continent’s most passionate football cities.

Today, Napoli is not just the hottest team in Italy, it is one of the hottest in the world. It is well on its way to winning its third scudetto – only an act of God would allow second-place Inter Milan to come out on top – and is a contender to win the UEFA Champions League. Napoli has already trounced a few of the best teams in Europe; it utterly destroyed Ajax 6-1 in October, leaving Dutch fans stunned. As of this week, only mighty Bayern Munich had more points.

How to explain the apparently miraculous turnaround?

Napoli’s renaissance is as much a business story as a coaching story. In short, the team learned how to do more with less – because it had virtually nothing to play with. It actually reduced its payroll recently, bucking the trend of paying the GDP of small countries to buy superstars. Napoli is a superstar-free zone, though a couple of its young hotshot players, most bought on the cheap, have the potential to achieve that status.

An unlikely football fanatic, movie mogul Aurelio De Laurentiis, formed a new company to lift Napoli out of bankruptcy 19 years ago. He promised financial stability, after which a rebuilding campaign could start.

At first, Neapolitans, a notoriously cynical though outgoing crowd, were non-believers. What did a film guy know about football? (I refuse to call the game “soccer” since football is actually played with the feet.) Mr. De Laurentiis is the nephew of legendary Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis and an accomplished producer in his own right (Woody Allen’s Bullets Over Broadway, David Lynch’s Blue Velvet).

As owner and chairman, he surprised everyone. Napoli’s renaissance was gradual but compelling, bolstered by a few acquisitions at bargain prices. The early standout buy was Uruguayan Edinson Cavani, who was picked up for a mere €17-million. Between 2011 and 2013, he scored an amazing 52 goals for Napoli, establishing himself as the league’s premier striker. The team returned to Serie A. It won the Coppa Italia, the annual knockout competition, in 2012. Napoli was back from the dead and rising in the ranks, but the scudetto – Italian football’s ultimate prize – still proved elusive.

In a bold effort to come out on top and appease the ghost of Maradona, who died in 2020, Mr. De Laurentiis tore up the rule book.

It said you had to pay big money for big stars, even if there was a risk they were past their prime. Some of the prices teams pay are eye-popping. Paris Saint-Germain paid €222-million for Neymar in 2017; a year later, the team bought Kylian Mbappé for €180-million, and Barcelona bought Philippe Countinho for €145-million.

Mr. De Laurentiis did precisely the opposite, but he needed help to launch his risky strategy. Two years ago, he recruited a new manager, Luciano Spalletti, who had successful, if sometimes spotty, careers at several Italian clubs, including Roma and Inter Milan, but had never won a scudetto. By the time he landed at Napoli, he was in his early 60s and apparently decided it was now or never.

Together, they sold most of their prominent, older players, including Lorenzo Insigne, a hometown boy who last year went to Toronto FC, and Dries Mertens, who had been Napoli’s all-time top scorer. They cut more than €10-million from their already low wage bill, and Napoli fans were aghast. Mr. Spalletti’s beloved little Fiat Panda was stolen. Maniacal fans (known as Ultras) put up a banner saying the car would be returned if he quit the team.

At that point, Napoli’s bosses apparently borrowed a lesson from the book and film of the same name Moneyball (starring Brad Pitt) and used data analytics and adventurous scouting to find undervalued players in overlooked parts of the planet. In came South Korean Kim Min-jae, Macedonian Eljif Elmas, Mexico’s Hirving (Chucky) Lozano and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia from Georgia (two years earlier, they bought Victor Osimhen of Nigeria, one of the best strikers in the world).

The fresh, young lineup, combined with Mr. Spalletti’s penchant for un-Italian, free-flowing, attacking football proved sensational. Mr. Kvaratskhelia, who is only 22 and was bought for a reported €10-million – cab fare by Premier League or La Liga standards – from Georgian club Dinamo Batumi, has Napoli fans in awe. “Kvaradona,” as he is already known, is one of Serie A’s top scorers.

With Serie A all but locked up, and Napoli’s gun sights aimed at the Champions League target, the team has captured the imagination of Europeans, who see an underdog team battling its way to the top. Maradona would be proud. For the money men and women of any professional sport, there is a lesson in Napoli. You don’t necessarily need buckets of money to succeed. Sometimes imagination and the courage to break the rules can do the trick.

ARTICLE

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/commentary/article-ssc-napoli-business-management/

#RMSoccer

IN AMENDMENT

The problem with articles like these is the assumption this hasn’t been tried before. In futebol’s history many teams have tried this. the truth is, no system is perfect and all systems tend to lead to neutral. Napoli got lucky. Like barca got lucky with that team from la masia. the plan is great when its best result happens. But the general plan can be disastrous. 

[holdmyhopeinyourhands]

Neymar contemplating like “Wow how great would it be if my best friend came to psg?”

And Kylian glaring with a very uncharacteristic frown like “Don’t you fucking dare you barca bench warmer. This is my time with ney, you have the national team.”

[winterfellharington]

And the Oscar award goes to...... Neymmmaaaarrrr... 😁😄😂😂😄😁😁😂😂😅

[reginaadams-and-kenphalange]

I will always support Brazil whatever happens 🇧🇷🇧🇷 Anyways, well done Belgium 👍.

I’m still sad 😔😔😔

[captainreecejames]

not to sound bitter by that coulda been oscar

[riverfloww]

#repost #dolphins #finsup #whodat #neymarjr #football #soccer #futbol #sports #sport #realmadrid #neymar #rooney #barcelona #goal #countinho #messi #arsenal #addidas #shoes #champions #fcb #preseason #chelsea #game #germany #futebol #ronaldo #liverpool1 #manchesterunited (at Atlanta, Georgia)

[thatfootballgirlyouknow]

Is Barcelona fc really this dumb? Well good for PSG 😎

WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK

[4virgil4]

Sometimes on days like today I look at people who claim they’d never take Coutinho back and think LMAO

[holdmyhopeinyourhands]

I actually like rabiot. Watched him grow up here for years, but how can he hold the club hostage like that. Give the club that raised you some respect. It’s not like players have’t left before on better terms, but they let their wishes be known instead of playing around. We sold matuidi to keep you! Like if you weren’t gonna stay you should have said so during the summer window, instead of pretending you were gonna think about it. 

Am just really disappointed in him

[netalkolemedia]

Philippe Countinho quitte officiellement le FC Barcelone 

Le FC Barcelone et Aston Villa sont tombés d’accord pour la signature du Brésilien Philippe Countinho, ce 12 Mai. Arrivé au Barça en janvier 2018 contre une somme gigantesque, Countinho n’est jamais parvenu à confirmer son potentiel en Catalogne.  Philippe Countinho ne reviendra pas de son prêt à Aston Villa. Le club Blaugrana a officialisé son départ en annonçant avoir trouvé un accord avec le…

[disappointmentfc]

@brazil

[jumatberkahcom]

Lazio Akui Minati Coutinho, Namun Terganjal Gaji Selangit 🔔 ISIS Jumat Palestina

Lazio Akui Minati Coutinho, Namun Terganjal Gaji Selangit 🔔 ISIS Jumat Palestina

Lazio berminat mengontrak Coutinho namun gelandang itu wajib pangkas gaji yang tinggi REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — Lazio dilaporkan telah menyatakan minat untuk mengontrak gelandang Barcelona Philippe Coutinho musim panas ini. Pemain berusia 29 tahun itu gagal mencapai level yang diharapkan di Camp Nou selama tiga tahun yang dilanda cedera bersama klub Catalan, dan pemain Brasil itu sekarang…

[verratis]

So Barca fans are still insulting Ney 6 months after his departure...

[newsresults]

Breakfast bowl: Start your day on a healthy note with this oats recipe

Breakfast bowl: Start your day on a healthy note with this oats recipe

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By: Lifestyle Desk | New Delhi | September 10, 2020 10:00:25 am

Count on this easy recipe for a quick breakfast. (Source: Getty Images/Thinkstock)

Many of us opt for a nutritious bowl of instant oats to kick-start the day on a healthy note. But did you know there is a variety of oats which is healthier? Yes, we are talking about oats…

[holdmybvbeer]

COUNTINHO

[andyrobertsonz]

countinho on? so now there's an ex liverpool player on both sides. The snakes never do leave you 😔