So with pre season well underway at Folgaria, Mazzarri has the opportunity to spend a full summer looking at the current roster. What has me most intrigued is not any new player (of which there is only Cavani and he’s not back in Italia until 2nd August I think) but the 9 Primavera players that were taken to the beautifully situated training ground.

The players taken were defenders Francesco Monda (19) and Armando Izzo (18), midfielders Crescenzo Liccardo (19), Raffaele Maiello (19) and Alessio Diana (19), attackers Lorenzo Insigne (19), Camillo Ciano (19) and Umberto Varriale (19). Luigi Sepe has been called up with the 1st team over a couple of seasons now but is still plays with the Primavera.

The future custodian of Naples?

I’m sure you’re familiar with a few of the names as I’ve probably mentioned them quite a lot over the last few weeks! The reason I do go on about youth players, from any team I like, is because if they have the quality to succeed at a high level they will also have a bond with the club that goes beyond just playing for them. This seems to be magnified quite a bit when it comes to Napoli as Maiello crying in the locker room after his debut from sheer joy testifies!

http://www.tuttonapoli.net/?action=read&idnotizia=45255

“Nello spogliatoio ho pianto dalla gioia. De Laurentiis mi ha stretto la mano. Paolo Cannavaro mi ha abbracciato forte”

When I have read interviews with some of the youngsters a few mention Paolo Cannavaro as their idol or that he is close to them. He is a brilliant role model for all the kids coming through as he is a class act on and off the pitch. Shame on you DeLa!

We missed out on a real talented crop of local produce with the usual names like Criscito, Bocchetti, Nocerino and Palladino springing to mind due to the fact that the club was in complete disarray allowing them to slip away to other clubs. I’m pretty sure we used to have Bocchetti’s brother or cousin play for us! Now we are slowly building the club to be financially secure and competitive in the future with the Primavera being targeted as a future source of 1st team players and hopefully world class talent.

http://www.tuttonapoli.net/?action=read&idnotizia=46951

In that article former youth trainer Ernesto Apuzzo describes what he thinks of the youngsters who had a chance to train with the big boys. He describes Ciano as a player whose best asset is his finishing which has been proven in training over the last couple of weeks. There was talk of Zemen being interested in taking him to Foggia on loan but it seems Mazzarri could keep him in Naples.
He is apparently a quiet lad and a little shy with his inspiration being Adriano (hopefully not the partying aspect) but the striker he likes most is Quagliarella.

Is Ciano the youth player to really break into the 1st team and score some sorely needed goals??

“Indosso la maglia che sognano tutti I ragazzi di Napoli, Spero di non svegliarmi” this is why we need local lads they have a connection with Napoli we can never understand!

With finishing like that (goal is at 2:53) I have a genuine hope he can carve out some minutes next season and become a regular in the side.

Apuzzo then goes on to say Monda is a very physical defender who could be useful if he could improve his feet so I assume this is how he plays with the ball at his feet and perhaps tackling, then Diana (who is used as a right sided midfielder) has great potential perhaps as a playmaker, but his attitude needs to improve. He says Gigi Sepe has the potential to be a great keeper and has a lot of time to improve. Umberto Varriale obviously scores a fair few goals so clearly there is talent there. He mentions Liccardo has good speed, strength and technique but the 3 players I’m most interested in are Insigne, Maiello and Izzo.

Could Liccardo be our Marchisio or De Rossi?

Armando Izzo is the youngster from Scampia and the one Primavera player above all the others I want to succeed, not just because of his tough upbringing also because he is a defender! Apuzzo describes Izzo like this;

“Qui stiamo parlando di un ’92, un giovanissimo, ma che – continua Apuzzo – è già il difensore centrale del futuro. Con me avrebbe giocato praticamente sempre, ha carattere, fisico, grinta ed intelligenza tattica. Semplicemente, deve solo essere accompagnato nella sua crescita per diventare uno dei migliori centrali d’Italia”

I’m not sure if he might be biased towards his former pupil but if this is true then we could be dealing with a real gem that just needs polishing. It’s worth mentioning that Izzo only made the step up to the Primavera from the Beretti midway last season so he is no way ready for 1st team action but I do hope he can fulfil his potential which could be something very special.

http://www.tuttonapoli.net/?action=read&idnotizia=44231

(The article above is a good read and shows the sort of background these kids are coming from)

“Berretti, Primavera e qualche allenamento con la prima squadra: Mazzarri è fantastico. E poi è incredibile marcare Lavezzi e rubare i segreti del mio idolo Cannavaro”

To go from the Beretti to marking Lavezzi (a certain Fabio Cannavaro started out with marking a certain Maradona and his coaches had to tell Fabio to take it easy on him!) in 1st team training in 3 months the kid must have some real talent! What a role model Paolo is for a kid that could have gone down a very dark route and into the web of the Camorra, shows you the kind of character he has to play his way out of that type of life.

My great hope for the future of Napoli's defence...

The 9 youth players at Folgaria was cut down to 5 last Monday I think with Diana, Izzo, Monda and Varriale getting sent home clearly signalling they aren’t quite ready for the 1st team. This left Sepe, Liccardo, Maiello, Insigne and Ciano. Sepe will eventually leave as De Sanctis is eased back into action and it seems Mazzarri likes something in Liccardo as he received a fair amount of call ups last season. It’s easy to see why Ciano is still around so what have Insigne and Maiello done to warrant spaces in 1st team training??

Our very own fantasista?

I will start with Lorenzo Insigne who is really impressing in training from what I can gather. He is scoring, assisting with goals and generally causing a nuisance to the opposition. First of all the kid is short and I mean really short. You can see just from the pictures of him with the rest of the team. He has been compared with Giovinco of Juventus and while I do see the similarities the one big difference between the 2 and the most important is Lorenzo has great balance which is crucial for a small player. Take a look at the goal he scored against Serie B team Cittadella;

He obviously needs to improve physically but look at how he can control the ball under pressure in the box and still slot it past the keeper. I’m hoping Mazzarri can see his talent and keep him in the 1st team as a vice Lavezzi.

The one player that is really causing a stir is Raffaele Maiello. He is the supposed diamond in a very talented group of young players. When Apuzzo was asked to describe him he had this to say;

“Spesso – spiega Apuzzo – mi hanno chiesto di paragonare Raffaele a qualche altro centrocampista: io dico soltanto che questo ragazzo non può essere messo accanto a nessun altro giocatore. Ha una duttilità tattica straordinaria: può fare l’interno di centrocampo, l’esterno in una mediana a quattro o a cinque ed anche l’attaccante laterale nel tridente. Deve solo fare quello step fisico che gli consente di giocare ad altissimi livelli, anzi in massima serie.”

This kid has the potential to be huge. He is a Neapolitan in the mould of an Iniesta type of player and could prove to be a huge talent if he can make the step up. the fact he is extremely versatile won’t harm his chances of getting some serious minutes next season. Along with Liccardo, Mazzarri has seen something in Maiello that has really impressed him.

Touted as the most complete and versatile player we have, very excited to see what he can do

One of the reasons for the recent mid season collapses is perhaps the fact the 3-5-2 needs every player to sacrifice and track back constantly leading them to burn out. I’m not going to talk about the 3-5-2 as I’m sure by now I’ve made my opinions quite clear! You can see in certain players especially Hamsik that playing at such a high tempo running up and down the full length of the pitch takes its toll and their performances begin to slip. Well if Maiello is as good as I’m led to believe we have a local lad who is able to come on for Marek or start in his place to give him a rest. The same goes for Insigne and Lavezzi.

Instead of fixing up the apparently terrible youth training facilities DeLa has simply fused the senior team and Primavera training schedules at the main training complex. This is exactly what I wanted to happen and I hope it can prove to be a major success for the club. Of course the youth team shouldn’t just be made up of local lads and the club has recently brought in a youngster from Torino, Raffale Maiorano 18, who is apparently one of the most exciting strikers in Italia for his age, more on him in the future hopefully.

Hope its not Cristiano's personality he models!

The new scouting staff that has been brought in is renowned for discovering gems and it seems Napoli is interested in Juan Manuel Iturbe who is 17 and is Paraguayan with dual Argentine nationality. He isn’t signed yet and if he does he could turn out to be a dud but when a player is described as the new Messi and he says himself his inspiration is Cristiano Ronaldo I can’t help but feel rather excited for what the future holds for Napoli!

For all you lovers of Marino here is one more reason to make you hate him;

“Nocerino ce lo teniamo. Poteva venire al Napoli due anni fa, ma Marino non lo volle”.
-Zamparini

Fuck you Marino!

Tags: Calcio Italiano, Calcio Napoli, Italian Football, Italian Soccer, Italy, Naples, Naples Football, Naples Soccer, Napoli