Serie A 2020/21: Parma vs Napoli – tactical analysis

Matchweek 1 of the Serie A season 2020/21 saw Parma host Napoli at the Ennio Tardini stadium. Parma beat Napoli on both occasions last season and were looking for a repeat of the same. The club welcomed fans for the first time in a competitive game since the lockdown, but couldnt get the result for them as they went down 0-2 to Napoli.

A cagey first half saw absolutely no chances being created, some solid shapely defending, and a slight bit of rust in playmaking which is understandable given that this is the first game of the season. The second half was more purposeful but the introduction of new man Victor Osimhen changed the attack dynamic of Napoli. A standout moment in the game was the change in formation tactics by Gattuso which destabilized the Parma shape. The change almost directly led to the mistakes which in turn led to both the goals. This tactical analysis brings to light the tactics and plays that both the teams applied in the game. The analysis aims to highlight some of the events that unfolded in the game.

With no Champions League this season, Napoli must hope they play better this time around and push for season glory. As for Parma, with Dejan Kulusevski back to Juventus, they must find a way to get into the top half.

Line-ups

Fabio Liverani set his game tactics in a 4-3-1-2. Parma had in the previous season also played in a 4-3-1-2, however, the 4-3-3 (51%) was their favoured setup. Luigi Sepe started in goal with a back four of Matteo Darmian, Simone Iacoponi, Bruno Alves and Giuseppe Pezzella. Hernani, Gastón Brugman and Alberto Grassi played as the midfield three, along with Juraj Kucka taking up an advanced playmaking role ahead of them. Roberto Inglese and Andreas Cornelius played in front as the two strikers.

Gennaro Gattuso set his Napoli team up in familiar 4-3-3 tactics; a formation that Napoli played most of their games with last season (45%). David Ospina started in goal with a back four of Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Kalidou Koulibaly, Kostas Manolas and Elseid Hysaj. Fabián Ruiz, Diego Demme and Piotr Zieliński started in a midfield three. Hirving Lozano, Dries Mertens and Lorenzo Insigne played as the front three for Napoli.

The Parma Press and Shape

Napolis play under Gattuso tactics has always been about a multitude of short quick passes and sharp movement. Last season, their playing tactics meant that they made the most passes per 90 among all teams (544.26) and played with the second-highest tempo (18.7), only marginally behind Juventus high of 19.0. Liverani set his team up to nullify this quick passing and movement by playing a high press and often making it a front three when out of possession to prevent Napoli from playing out from the back. Parma also crowded the midfield, thereby reducing for the Napoli defence to play into. Their coordinated press in Napolis third of the pitch, among other factors, was key to the nil-nil scoreline at halftime. However, the press seemed to drop off in the second half which gave the Napoli players more space to play their game and execute their tactics. When Parma were executing their press and shape well, they managed to successfully cut down the supply of passes to Napolis midfield from the defence. This meant that the Napoli defenders had to move the ball sideways in order to move the ball forward since the Parma press and shape had limited the space in the midfield. This section of the tactical analysis is about the Parma wall. To support the analysis, we look at some instances from the game which depict the Parma press tactics.

In the below instance, we do an analysis of how Parmas Cornelius, Inglese and Kucka form a wall between the Napoli defence and midfield. The shape insolates Napolis midfield trio of Demme, Ruiz and Zieliński behind the Parma wall. Additionally, Ruiz and Zieliński are man-marked by Hernani and Grassi to make the movement for them more difficult. The inaccessibility of the Napoli midfield meant that Manolas had no option but to play the ball wide to Di Lorenzo. The images to support the analysis are below.

A similar instance followed in the very next minute. Parma were executing their shape and pressing tactics well right from the first minute. Below are the images to support the analysis.

Parma were consistently able to wall the Napoli midfield throughout the first half. Below is an instance from the 35th minute of the game, where we see the wall come into effect again.