Well, it’s time to kick off the second season of this Napoli save. Firstly, I would like to apologise in advance for the inconsistency of my saves lately, I know I’ve moved from save to save recently, but for the foreseeable future, I’ll be sticking with Napoli, and trying to defeat the behemoth that is Juventus, coming off their unbeaten season. If you remember the first season, I’d begun this save as a test save for some tactical experiments, and as a result had made mistakes – such as selling Gonzalo Higuain – that have made the save even more challenging. I’d also really struggled with my tactical setup, taking most of the season to get the 4-3-3 how I wanted it, and even then I wasn’t entirely sure. Furthermore, my strikers were having difficulty scoring, particularly my star signing Carlos Vela. All in all, it wasn’t great. However, we finished the season in 2nd place in the Scudetto, earning us a Champions League place, so at least there was clear progression in that respect. We just have to claw back 19 points of difference to Juve. This was going to be an important transfer window.
I’d identified our most important weaknesses as:
- Centre Back – Éder Álvarez Balanta was solid, but Munoz took his time settling in, and Albiol was poor, averaging below 7.00.
- A forward player. I was hoping this would be to replace Vela, but I couldn’t be certain.
I felt the midfield was perfect as it is, with Jorginho, Allan and Hamsik performing fantastically last season, and Valfidiori, El Kaddouri, de Guzman and Dezi more than capable as backups. Of course, I could improve here, but I want to keep recruitment logical and planned and give this save some longevity, and right now the midfield is our strongest area.
As you’ll know, the key for me was whether teams would be interested in the players I wanted to ship out (ideally), Vela and Gabbiadini. Well, it’s been a busy transfer window, and here’s our transfers out: