In 2005-2006, Napoli was looking to escape dire finances and Serie C1.  In 2010-2011, Napoli can credibly claim that it is competing for a Champions League berth.  The Partenopei led by their president Aurelio De Laurentiis have been slowly built up and well managed to the point where last season they qualified for their their second Europa League in three seasons.  Their big off-season signing of Edinson Cavani gives the team’s supporters hope that they can finish in the top four this year, and their expectations are not outrageous.

Management: De Laurentiis has spent and will continue to spend money to get the right players for his club.  His hiring of former Sampdoria manager Walter Mazzarri last season to replace Roberto Donadoni was a good one, as he resurrected the listless club and guided them to sixth place in the standings.  He has said the right things this offseason, including making it his goal for the club to continue improving in Italy and in Europe.

The Transfer Market: Napoli’s offseason can be judged a success for two reasons – they signed Edinson Cavani and they did not lose a key contributor to their rivals.  Cavani made his name in this year’s World Cup scoring for Uruguay against Germany, but maybe more importantly he can no longer help the team ahead of Napoli in the standings, Palermo.  He has scored 34 goals since 2007 and is only 23 years old, so he could blossom further in Marrazzi’s style.

Not leaving on transfer this year were Italian national Fabio Quagliarella or Marek Hamsik.  Luca Cigarini was sent to Sevilla and Erwin Hoffer was sent to Bundesliga, but both players can be easily replaced.  And to good news is that De Laurentiis has said he is not done on the transfer market and he will wait until after Napoli’s Europa League match against Elfsborg to sign another player, depending on the outcome.

Key Players and the Formation: With the depth in midfield, expect Napoli to field a 3-4-2-1 or 3-4-3 formation this season.  This will allow some attacking midfielders to move up and support a shallow core of strikers (although they are deep on talent).

Defensively Napoli is an experienced group.  Morgan De Sanctis is the starter currently for both Azzurri teams and while not spectacular, the keeper’s spot is solid.  In front of De Sanctis will certainly be Paolo Cannavaro but next to him is a bit in flux.  Gianluca Grava and Salvatore Aronica are both on the wrong side of thirty, and Hugo Campagnaro and Fabiano Santacroce will likely push to start on defense.  Regardless, don’t be surprised if Napoli makes a move to strengthen its defense in the next week.

The star of the midfield is Hamsik.  Although he failed to score against Italy in the World Cup, Hamsik captained his team out of group stage and, at 23, is set to have a huge year.  He will likely flow between a traditional midfield spot and further up, acting at times as a forward, depending on who else is starting with him in midfield.  If Napoli does goes with four midfielders, there will be a log jam for all four spots.  Talented players like Juan Carlos Zuniga may come off the bench because there is not a space for him to play.

Pairing with Cavani will be a combination of Lavezzi and/or Quagiarella.  Quagliarella needs to carry over his strong World Cup performance into the club season and continue to be strong in the box to add a different scoring dimension.  If any of these three struggle, Hamsik could be moved forward in the formation to assist in scoring or Napoli could scour the market for a new body.

Outlook: This team is good, and should do well in the Europa League if it continues to get draws like Elfsborg.  Whether it has the depth to compete in the Europa League and Serie A is another question, but the club has enough combinations of players to make it work.  Does this team have enough talent to make a run at the top four?  Yes if the big name strikers live up to their billing, the backline doesn’t show its age, and the team’s World Cup players play as well as they did in South Africa.  Will all these things happen?  On that I am slightly more pessimistic.

Manager – Vladimir Weiss Sr.

FIFA Ranking – 34

Schedule – New Zealand (6/15), Paraguay (6/20), Italy (6/24)

Qualification – First place, UEFA Group 3

Big name player- Marek Hamsik (Napoli)

Last time they qualified for WC – Never

A quick geography lesson for those who are unfamiliar with the European landscape – Slovakia is half of Czechoslovakia, which split into different countries in 1993. This is the first time that the Slovaks have made the World Cup, but their countrymen were key contributors to the Czechoslovakian clubs that won the 1976 European championship and made the quarterfinals of the 1990 World Cup. Their neighbors and former countrymen also have international history: the Czechs made the 2006 tournament only to fail to advance from the group stage, despite a FIFA ranking as high as #4.

The club had a tough qualification in UEFA Group 3 but showed resilience to make the World Cup. Their most impressive victory was undoubtedly their 2-1 win over the Czech Republic in Prague, the first time they had ever beaten their former countrymen in their former capital. They qualified after winning a match 1-0 over Poland where they scored the go-ahead goal three minutes into the match and held on for the victory. They did however lose to fellow World Cup qualifiers Slovenia in the group stage.

Their manager is a famous name in Slovakian football history. Vladimir Weiss’s father was a member of the Czechoslovakian national squad and Weiss himself was a member of the 1990 team. He was named manager in 2008 and has achieved fame in the country by leading them to their first World Cup.

A key player to the Slovakian attack is also Vladimir Weiss – the manager’s son. The 22 year old Manchester City player did not receive a lot of playing time in the EPL due to City’s depth chart, but is highly regarded by Roberto Mancini. He will likely be the right winger in the team’s 4-4-2 formation pairing with a familiar name to Serie A fans: Marek Hamsik was Napoli’s leading goal scorer this season, notching 12 goals in 37 appearances. He has experience playing against the members of the Italian team, and that experience could be key in their June 24 match. The rest of the midfield could be manned by Mainz 05’s Miroslav Karhan, who has 96 international appearances, and Miroslav Stoche.

Up front are two players who can certainly score goals. One striker is 28 year old Robert Vittek, who is playing professionally in Turkey but failed to notch a goal in qualifying. Only four years ago, he starred at Nuremberg in Bundesliga and became the first Bundesliga player to score a combined six goals in back to back matches. The other striker is likely Stanislav Sestak, who plays for Bochum in Germany and notched six goals in the last ten international matches.

The backline has most likely the most famous Slovakian football player in the world, Liverpool’s Martin Skrtel. His height can help with set pieces and any injury to the superstar could doom Slovakia’s chances. On the line with him are three players from Bundesliga, but the most interesting member of the defense could be the keeper Jan Mucha. Mucha recently completed a transfer from the Polish league to Everton, where he is expected to be competition in goal for the U.S.’s Tim Howard next season in the EPL. English soccer fans may want to keep an eye on him to see if he could compete with Howard.

The Slovakian club is very experienced at the club level and some of their key players have international experience as well. Slovakia is the type of team that has enough talent and experience to give Italy trouble in the group stage IF they stay healthy. Injuries to key “backbone” players like Skrtel or Hamsik would doom their chances. But a healthy Slovakian squad could give the Azzurri problems and knock them from their presumed perch in Group F.

As Serie A takes a quick breather for a World Cup friendly this week versus Cameroon, this past weekend once again saw changes in the standings as well as a tightening championship race.  Before we look ahead and begin debating which players deserve to make the national team, let’s take a look back at a fascinating week in Serie A.

It was the best and worst of times for AC Milan

Alexandre Pato was the star of the match for Milan, netting two first half goals for the club on their way to an easy 3-1 victory over Atalanta.  But the story coming out of this match was a thigh strain for Pato, who was carried off near the end of the match.  The severity is currently unknown, but it looks like he could miss the crucial away game versus Manchester United next week.  Milan is a talented club, but Pato has fourteen goals in 24 Serie A and Champions League matches this season and thus will be missed if he is out for the match.

The positive Juventus momentum grinds to a halt

This past week, Juventus beat Ajax in aggregate to move into the round of 16 in the Europa League.  They had also moved back into fourth place in Serie A and looked to be in control of their Champions League destiny.  Alas, their momentum came to a screeching halt with a 2-0 loss to Palermo, who replaces them in that coveted fourth place in the standings.  Juve had their chances, but only put one shot on goal in the contest.  This was their first loss under new manager Alberto Zaccheroni.

Roma and Napoli both end streaks

A Marek Hamsik goal in extra time sealed an impressive Napoli comeback and secured their first points in their last six matches.  That same goal also ended Roma’s winning streak at seven matches and, with Milan’s two victories in four days, dropped them into third in the standings three points behind Milan and seven behind Inter.  Mirko Vucinic continued to play well netting a goal in the 65th minute, but it was Roma’s defense that let Napoli back into the contest.  This bitter defeat ended a bad week for Roma – still without Toni and Totti, they had been eliminated from the Europa League on Thursday.

Lazio survives to play another day

In a match setting that ESPN described as “ghostly”, Lazio held on to a 1-1 draw against Fiorentina to pick up one point and remain three points away from relegation.  The Lazio faithful held a protest of the club’s ownership, resulting in an estimated crown of 10,000 quietly watching the match in the Stadio Olympico.  Lazio seized an early lead on a goal in the seventh minute, and their third-string keeper didn’t concede an equalizer until extra time in the second half.  It was at the same time a missed opportunity and favorable match for the home club.

Bari continues its free-fall

For a club that was considered a dark horse for a Euopra League spot, Bari has played miserably the past few weeks.  Last week, they barely put up a fight against visiting AC Milan.  This week, the gave up four goals to a Catania club that is fighting to stay up in Serie A.  Bari played well but failed to put any points on the board despite some good opportunities.  This is their fourth straight loss and they have failed to scored for the third time in those matches.

LIVE Coverage of Atalanta vs. Napoli

Napoli currently sit third on 23 points tied with AC Milan. A win today could lift the Southerners into second place if the Rossoneri fail to take all 3 points against Chievo at the San Siro. 

I would think AC Milan should win comfortably also Chievo have recently entered the sack race switching manager Giuseppe Iachini for Domenico Di Carlo on November 4th. 

At certain points of the season a managerial change can spark increased enthusiasm by players vying for first XI placing but playing at the San Siro is an entirely different dynamic and I can’t see change in form being strong enough to overcome that.  Now here’s hoping I haven’t put my foot in my mouth once you consider AC Milan’s home form last season.

Inter Milan are atop the table with 27 points followed by Juventus on 24 points. Juventus have already played their Match day 12 encounter Thursday crushing visitors Genoa by a scoreline of 4 – 1.

Webflash link:  ATALANTA VS. NAPOLI

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