Cremonese head into Napoli - Cremonese with a lineup that Nicolò Casali said is already taking shape, and the picture he painted was far from calm. Speaking on Radio Napoli Centrale during Un Calcio alla Radio, Casali said the mood in Cremona is bad because the calendar is brutal and the pressure around the team keeps growing.
“Che aria si respira a Cremona? Brutta aria, c’è un calendario tostissimo,” Casali said, adding that “il pessimismo incombe.” He said there is also a desire in Cremona to put obstacles in Napoli’s way, and that it is difficult for Napoli to make two home mistakes in a row.
Casali said Giampaolo’s choices are forced and that Cremonese will line up with a four-man defense. He added that Maleh will return to midfield, Vandeputte will play and Grassi will be in the middle of midfield. On the right, he said, Floriani has overtaken Zerbin.
That reading fits with the tactical changes Giampaolo has already made. Casali said Cremonese were playing with a 4-4-2 and pointed to the Torino match, when Giampaolo replaced Floriani Mussolini with Zerbin and Vandeputte with Okereke, a move that left Cremonese playing with four forwards. He said Giampaolo has been good at changing the game during matches, but also noted that Barbieri is not seen much by the coach.
Casali also added another layer to the lineup picture by discussing Floriani’s contract situation. He said the player is on loan from Lazio and has a buyout clause with a right of redemption at 5 million euros, plus 50% to Lazio in case of resale. In the same discussion, he described Sanabria as the highest-paid player in the squad and said he has scored only one goal.
For Cremonese, the immediate question is no longer whether changes are coming, but how many of them Giampaolo will make when the team walks out against Napoli. Casali’s account suggests the coach has little room to improvise and even less room for error.
