André-Frank Zambo Anguissa Scout Report At Napoli 2021/2022: Why Napoli Want To Offer The Midfielder A Permanent Deal

Despite the impressive season, Napoli are slowly moving away from their dream to win the Serie A title.

The team are currently four points behind Milan, who still manage to keep the leadership, although Inter are following them tightly and have a game advantage.

That doesn’t mean that Luciano Spalletti and his squad don’t deserve praise for their performance.

One of the players that have contributed greatly to their title challenge hopes is the midfielder André-Frank Zambo Anguissa, who is crucial in the central areas and helps the team achieve a balance between the lines and succeed both in and out of possession.

Despite being employed in the right central midfield position, the combination of high defensive awareness and strong technical abilities makes him successful in the defensive midfield role.

His passing ability helps the team retain possession and ball progression, while his anticipation skills and defensive actions provide additional stability off the ball.

In this scout report, we use tactical analysis to explain how the Fulham loanee adds to Napoli’s performance and how he fits Spalletti’s tactics.

Napoli’s main traits

Spalletti has developed quite a distinguished playing style at Napoli.

His possession-based approach combines a high pass frequency with a lot of movement.

They average 532.3 passes per 90, which places them second in the league in terms of frequency.

Their short passing aims to smoothly progress the ball and occupy the opposition half where they like to control the game.

They tend to use the wide areas for their attacking movement where the central midfielders have an important contribution.

The team creates high numbers of goal-scoring chances, taking advantage of their set-piece opportunities, counter-attacking, and relying on long shots and crosses.

When it comes to their actions out of possession, the team adjust their pressing strategy depending on the opposition.

Their average PPDA rate is pretty low (12.07), although, in some of their games, they are more likely to press high.

Their usual approach is putting more effort into their midfield positioning and press and trying to recover the ball in the central areas.

They average 68.47 recoveries per 90.

Supporting their aim to have more of the possession is also their ability to hold on to the ball.

Napoli are the side with the fewest ball losses on average and thats often a result of the players dribbling proficiency as they are the most efficient in their dribbling attempts in the league.

When it comes to their direct challenges, Spallettis players do win a high percentage of their defensive duels, especially with the help of the midfielders.

Napoli has the second-best defensive record in Serie A, conceding 27 goals in 33 games.