EXCLUSIVE Novellino: 'Juventus back in title race soon'
With a number of his former clubs (including Torino) making a positive start to the season, what did Novellino make of their chances of keeping it up? And what of Juventus? Read on.
Are we falling into the trap of attributing too much importance to seven games, or could we be in for a genuine shock? “It’s too early for us to make leftfield predictions. The league will begin to show us its true colours next week, when Napoli play Fiorentina and Inter face Juventus. I’m convinced that Juventus will be back in the mix very soon, as will Milan. A slow start was to be expected, both teams changed a lot and it isn’t easy to find the right mix in such little time. In terms of surprises, I wound underline Torino’s achievements, as they have everything to establish themselves among the elite. They have a system that is well defined, an environment that stimulates its players and a number of difference-makers."
Which team is playing the best football?
“Napoli and Fiorentina, without a doubt, but I’d add Torino as well. Inter are doing decently, in their own particular way. They may not be too pleasing on the eye, but they’re very clinical, something of quite some importance in our league. The others will find their own identities sooner or later but Sarri and Sousa have shown they know what they’re doing, despite being in completely different situations. The Napoli coach has been good at changing things as he goes along, whilst Sousa found the right balance right away.”
Napoli is currently gripped by the Insigne debate: would giving him the Maradona’s Number 10 jersey be the right choice? "Lorenzo is great, he’s doing amazing things but let’s not bring Maradone into this, it make no sense. Lorenzo needs to keep calm, he still has to show us all his talent, he needs to establish himself in Italy and in Europe, this kind of choice could be damaging for his future.
The kid’s got tough skin, he doesn’t shirk responsibility. That said, this kind of endorsement would be too much, and possibly useless anyway."
Back in your Napoli days, you achieved one of the proudest feats of your career... in a San Paolo that was always full to bursting. These days, that very same stadium struggles to fill up, despite good results. What’s the problem?
“Back in my day the club’s administration wasn’t in great shape and Napoli were in B, yet people always came to the San Paolo. In my opinion it’s just a matter of time, the fans want to win every game, they’re likely waiting for the results to come. They may also have been disillusioned a bit by the Benitez regime, maybe they were expecting something different. De Laurentiis shouldn’t be left on his own, the city needs to be grateful to him for what he’s done and for what he will keep doing for Napoli”.
You’re known as a Serie B “specialist”. Have you identified any early promotion candidates?
“Cagliari look to be a cut above the rest. It’s good that such a prestigious club has given an emerging, but very good coach like Rastelli a chance. It means meritocracy still shines through occasionally”.
