“KIM is not Beckenbauer, he’s a good player, nothing more, nothing less”…Napoli’s biggest problem right now is not ‘defense’ but ‘attack’ claims

Defending Italian Serie A champions Napoli are struggling in the 2023-24 season.

After three rounds, Napoli has fallen to sixth place in the league with a 2-1 record. In three games, Napoli has scored six goals and conceded three.

Many pundits have cited two reasons for Napoli’s struggles. The first is the absence of coach Luciano Spalletti, who led Napoli to their first title in 33 years last season. Spalletti left Napoli to take a position with the Italian national team. In his place, Napoli appointed Rudi Garcia.

The second is the absence of Kim Min-jae. Kim was the centerpiece of Napoli’s breakout season last season. Napoli retained their attacking core with Victor Osimhen and Hvitsa Hvitsa Kvarachelia, but lost their defensive core with Kim Min-jae to Bayern Munich.

The loss of Kim, Napoli’s stalwart center back and Serie A’s best defender last season, has left the club shaken. Local media have also criticized Napoli for not finding a replacement. The void is huge. 안전놀이터

However, others have a different opinion. Napoli is still a strong team, and Spalletti emphasized that the absence of Kim is not a big problem. Instead, they pointed out that Napoli’s biggest problem is their offense.

Sabatino Durante is one of those who made this claim. He is known for being a big-time agent. He’s been responsible for the transfers of star players like Ronaldo and Luka Modric. He also sold many players to Napoli and was the sporting director of Perugia in Italy. Currently, he works as a soccer pundit.

Durante spoke to Italy’s Radio Marte about his thoughts on Napoli.

“Kim Min-jae is not Franz Beckenbauer,” he said first.

Beckenbauer, as everyone knows, is the greatest defender in the history of world soccer. He is a legend of the German national team and a legend of the German powerhouse Bayern Munich. Beckenbauer is one of only nine players to have won a World Cup, UEFA Champions League, UCL, and Ballon d’Or. He won the Ballon d’Or twice.

Not Beckenbauer. This means he doesn’t have the same absolute impact as Kim Min-jae, which means he can fill the void.

After mentioning Beckenbauer’s name, Durante said, “Kim is a good player. But he’s not more than a good player, he’s not less than a good player. He’s a good defender, but he’s not Beckenbauer. He was a good defender, but he couldn’t be Beckenbauer.”

“Napoli’s biggest problem right now is their offense. They are not scoring goals, so they need to improve their offense.”

He is confident that Garcia will fill the void left by Spalletti: “Garcia’s career is not behind Spalletti. Garcia is a great coach. His resume proves it.”

Finally, Durante added: “Napoli are feeling too much anxiety right now. There is no need for that. They need to be calm. Napoli are still a great team. They are a team that can do well in the UCL,” he said.