by Valentino Della Casa, red. gianlucadimarzio.com
Aurelio De Laurentiis has decided to sack Walter Mazzarri, Calzona will be the third coach, the season began with Garcia
Hectic hours, a day full of consultations. But in the end De Laurentiis decided: Walter Mazzarri was sacked, to make way for Francesco Calzona. There are no longer any doubts, even if, looking back over the day, De Laurentiis probably didn’t even have them in the morning. At the end of the day, the Napoli president wanted to thank Mazzarri for the work done, underlining: «Mazzarri is and will always remain a friend of the De Laurentiis family. It’s always painful to sack a friend, I thanked him for coming in a moment of difficulty but we need to give something more to Naples and its fans. Now let’s try to give it to Calzona.”
«We welcome Calzona and try to help him without conflict – added the number one of the Neapolitan club -. Tomorrow morning he will come here with his collaborators at 8.30, he will go to Castelvolturno and I will introduce him to the boys. It will be a total immersion in a new reality, remembering that we have the Champions League match against Barcelona, who are always a great team.” Then the president of the Neapolitan club focused on the possible arrival of Hamsik on Calzona’s staff: «It’s complicated, I spoke to him yesterday and not today. He is intrigued by the idea of being able to work for a team that he loves, he was a blue flag having given up on Juventus and Milan.”
The day, De Laurentiis’ decision
It all started in the early hours of the morning. At the Hotel Britannique, the Napoli president had in fact started working very early, to understand especially with the Slovak Federation whether it was possible to give the coach the green light for the double role. Phone calls, consultations and availability collected within a few hours. Then, while Mazzarri was directing what would be his last training session at Castel Volturno, Edoardo De Laurentiis, vice-president of the club, and Andrea Chiavelli, ADL’s right-hand man who has always dealt with the stipulation of contracts, arrived at Britannique.
A clear signal of the direction that the management had decided to take, to try to give yet another jolt to a disheartened environment. In the afternoon, new phone calls and new consultations, with the staff gradually coming together and which foresees, among others, the return to Naples of Sinatti, the athletic trainer who won the Scudetto with Spalletti and who, too, will take on the double assignment with the Italian national team.
Once all the documents were prepared and all the necessary approvals arrived, the final decision arrived at 8pm: Mazzarri exonerated and the bench entrusted to Sarri’s former deputy until June 2024. Without options. The pitch will do the talking, and it will have to do so starting from the match against Barcelona, scheduled for Wednesday 21 February. Tomorrow Calzona will direct the finishing session which has been moved to 2pm in the afternoon to allow the new coach to take office: the third turnaround has concluded.
The conditions of Slovakia
Meanwhile, after Napoli’s announcement, the Slovak Football Federation’s statement on the conditions for Francesco Calzona’s double role also arrived. The new coach of the Italian club, in fact, is also the technical commissioner of Slovakia, with whom he qualified for the European Championships which will be played in a few months. Three fundamental points can be read in the federation’s note. The first concerns the timing: Calzona will be Napoli’s coach from February 19th until Napoli’s last Serie A or Champions League match of this season. In addition to this, the former deputy of Sarri and Spalletti will have to respect all the contractual obligations of his contract, always remaining available to Slovakia even if not exclusively. He will therefore have to be on the bench for the friendlies against Austria and Norway, scheduled for 23 and 26 March respectively, as well as appearing in person at the press conference for the call-ups for the matches just mentioned. Failure to comply with these conditions would lead to Slovakia having the “right to withdraw its consent” for the dual assignment. The singularity of the choice was also underlined in the communication given the European Championships this summer: «The Slovak Football Federation is aware that this is an atypical decision that could cause concern among the public. However, he also understands Calzona’s exceptional relationship with the club where he worked for a long time and wants to help him in the current difficult situation.”
Corriere della Sera is also on Whatsapp. Simply click here to subscribe to the channel and always be updated.
February 19, 2024 (changed February 19, 2024 | 10.30pm)
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
2024-02-19 19:33:15
#Laurentiis #chose #CalzonaCorriere.it
