The much publicised boycott of the Curva Sud and Curva Nord continued this weekend as Lazio and Roma clashed in the Derby della Capitale at the Stadio Olimpico in what should have been one of the spectacle events of the Serie A calendar.

 

This summer, on the orders of Rome's Franco Gabrielli, divisive plastic sheeting was installed in both Curva's in what was called a "safety measure" to prevent overcrowding. A somewhat strange view given that the stadium is seated and features no terracing, and one can only feel that the money would have been better spent on proper stewarding rather than dividing a support within itself. With Roma and Lazio flying high at the top end of Serie A, this game should have been sold out with not a ticket to be had for love nor money, but instead viewers switched on to be greeted by a match contested in a half empty stadium that sounded devoid of any atmosphere.

 

On the pitch, Roma ran out 2-0 winners, but the game was generic for the neutral. The Italian game has always been colourful; the Curva's are renowned for being the heartbeat of stadiums across the country where flares and flags are commonplace and where the chants that bring the crowds to life originate. One can only hope that an agreement is reached between all parties, ideally with these plastic screens removed and normality being resumed in the Curva's. Italian football is already falling further behind England and Germany in both structure and TV audiences, let's not strip it of the one thing that sets it apart from anywhere else in the world; its passion.

 

 

When you think of Napoli's most effective defender, the name of Kalidou Koulibaly is probably the one who immediately comes to mind. Dominant in the air and strong in the tackle, Koulibaly is viewed as the foundation upon which Napoli's defence is built as he continues to be linked with a move to Antonio Conte's Chelsea. However, during the injury enforced absence of Raul Albiol, these foundations began to shake and opposition started to find weaknesses in a defence which last season was among one of the best in Serie A.

 

Without Albiol at his side, Koulibaly looked a somewhat inferior player. Lacking in confidence on the ball and caught out of position, this was never more apparent than against Roma when Mohammed Salah took advantage of Koulibaly to set up Edin Dzeko to open the scoring in an eventual 3-1 Roma win at the Stadio San Paolo. Similarly, are we to believe that it is coincidence Pepe Reina has looked more like his old self since Albiol's return? Although he does remain culpable for several goals conceded this season due to basic goalkeeping errors, Milan and Lazio immediately come to mind, he has looked more assured when Albiol is in front of him.

 

While Albiol may certainly not be the best defender on Napoli's roster, he clearly has something that makes the entire defensive unit tick. In their last 5 games in all competition, Napoli have kept just two clean sheets; which came against Dynamo Kyiv in the Champions League and Inter on Friday evening, the only two of the five games where Albiol featured. Whether it is organisational skills or just superior communication, it is clear to most observers that Napoli have looked a far more solid and organised unit at the back since his return.

 

 

Much has been said of the way Inter dispatched of the Dutch tactician and, while results ultimately speak for themselves, not many Inter fans can say things have gone much better since the appointment of Stefano Pioli. When de Boer was handed the job with just two weeks until the start of the new Serie A season he was given the unenviable and near impossible task of managing the expectations of a support who just six years ago won a sensational treble under then manager Jose Mourinho.

 

In de Boer's 11 league games in charge he took just 8 points from a possible 33 with his side scoring 13 and conceding 14, although a home win over reigning champions Juventus gave the nerazzurri some slight respite. As the club searched for his replacement, youth team coach Stefano Vecchi took charge but again results were inconsistent as Inter slipped to a 2-1 defeat away to Southampton in the Europa League while registering a 3-0 home win over Crotone in Serie A.

 

Pioli's record since his managerial debut on November 20th has shown no signs of consistency either. With just a single win against Fiorentina to show for his efforts as well as a draw with Milan and a heavy loss at Napoli sandwiching Europa League elimination at the hands of Hapoel Beer-Sheva, you begin to wonder if Inter should have kept faith with de Boer until at least January. Much has been reported of this "super team" the Suning Group have spoken of assembling in recent weeks, however if their ultimate solution to the problem was to simply throw money at it, why did they bother getting rid of de Boer in the first place?

 

 

When Roma lost Mo Salah to a freak training ground accident involving former Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen, fans of the giallorossi would have been forgiven for fearing the worst. Salah was already due to miss a portion of the season in the new year due to his involvement in the African Cup of Nations, however 3 weeks on the sidelines due to injury means he won't be seen again in a Roma jersey until sometime in February.

 

Given his form this season, it's only natural that he'll be missed. 8 goals and 4 assists at an average of 145 minutes per goal is impressive enough, Salah also boasts a shots on target ratio of 61% with 19 of his 31 attempts thus far at least testing the goalkeeper. However, Roma manager Luciano Spalletti came up with the perfect plan B to not only compensate for the loss of Salah but nullify the threat of Lazio. Switching from his usual 4-2-3-1 formation, Spalletti opted for a 4-5-1, bringing in Manolas at centre back and pushing Rudiger to right back.

 

This allowed Bruno Peres to take up position wide on the right of a midfield five with Strootman and Nainggolan in front of the sitting De Rossi and Perotti wide on the left. The change worked as Lazio were stifled and Roma could retain their midfield three with Peres and Perotti working the flanks to get up in support of lone striker Edin Dzeko or filter back to form the midfield five. It was an effective tactical change which shows that Roma will cope just fine with the temporary loss of their in-form Egyptian international.

 

 

While Juventus, Atalanta, Roma, and Lazio all squared off against one another, Torino were handed a trip to Genoa to take on Sampdoria in what many would have seen as a chance for the Turin side to make up ground in the event of dropped points elsewhere. However, Sampdoria had other ideas and the 2-0 win over Sinisa Mihajlovic's men took them to within just 3 points of Torino and 6 off the top four.

 

Sampdoria's season began well enough with back to back wins over Empoli and Atalanta before going on a run that contained just one win in their next six games, and included a heavy 4-1 loss at the Juventus stadium. As of the end of October, Sampdoria are now on a 6 game unbeaten run which includes 4 wins and 2 draws and, in their last two games, 5 goals scored without reply. Should they continue in their current vein of form, and with confidence growing there is no reason to say it won't, it would be a remarkable story for the second half of the season if Sampdoria even contested, never mind claimed a European spot after such a dismal start to their campaign.




James McGhie (@jrmcghie) is the founder of @SemprePodcast,the original & best SSC Napoli podcast for English speaking supporters across the world.