Italy coach Luciano Spalletti regretted on Monday that his successor at the head of Naples Rudi Garcia, who should be dismissed at the start of the week, found himself in “an unfair situation” because of “comparisons with the pass”. “I have nothing to say about Naples. I had prepared myself a little (for this question), I am the coach of the national team and I think that it is now unfair that I speak about club life,” Spalletti initially declared in a conference press release, four days before a crucial Euro 2024 qualifying match against North Macedonia.
“How unfair it is to always make comparisons with the past,” he continued. “I have a lot of respect for Garcia, he has shown that he is a decent, balanced person. It was not fair from the first match to compare it with what had been done with this team before,” regretted Spalletti. The Italian technician won the Italian champion title last season with Napoli, who had been waiting for this third coronation for 33 years.
Under Spalletti’s leadership, Naples flew through the 2022-23 season, relegating runner-up Lazio to 16 points. Spalletti then decided to leave his post, initially to take a sabbatical, before agreeing to take over the Nazionale following the surprise resignation of Roberto Mancini in mid-August.
The day after the defeat at home against the poorly ranked Empoli (1-0), the president-owner of Napoli Aurelio De Laurentiis called a crisis meeting on Monday which should lead to the dismissal of Garcia and the appointment of his successor, possibly the Croatian Igor Tudor. Under Garcia’s leadership, Napoli have played 16 matches in the league and Champions League for a record of eight wins, four draws and four defeats, all at home. Naples is 4th in the Italian Championship, ten points behind the leader, Inter Milan.