Spalletti hails complete package Osimhen as Mourinho advises him to stop diving
Osimhen scored perhaps the best goal of his Napoli career on Sunday
Napoli manager Luciano Spalletti was full of praise for the unity in the Napoli squad after Giovanni Simeone came off the bench to beat Roma and described Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen as ‘the complete package.’
The Partenopei were already 12 points clear going into the second half of the season and only expanded that lead to 13 points thanks to this hard-fought victory and the crumbling form of Milan.
Osimhen scored perhaps the best goal of his Napoli career, control with his chest, then thigh before a volley into the roof of the net, cancelled out by Stephan El Shaarawy at the back post.
It was Cholito Simeone who came off the bench and confirmed their sheer strength in depth to snatch the winner in the final minutes.
“You win these games if you prove that you are determined to win, from the kit staff to the last man on the bench,” Spalletti told DAZN.
“These are complicated matches, but those who came on proved that they were already in the game from the bench. That is a fundamental quality for our team, because these long seasons with this intensity, if you don’t have everyone within the daily work and enthusiastic about what their teammates do, eager to play alongside their teammates rather than just take their place, then you won’t get these results.”
Since three points for a win were introduced in 1994-95, no team has been 13 points clear after just 20 rounds.
Spalletti was asked about the role of the full-backs at Napoli, with Giovanni Di Lorenzo and Mario Rui cutting inside, as Kvicha Kvaratskhelia and Hirving Lozano push up.
“We play like that because of the characteristics we have at our disposal. When you are facing a five-man defence, if we play inside and pass it down the right, then cross to the left-back, then they don’t have time to cover the space on the other side and we can reach the edge of the box.
“We didn’t have as much courage and quality as usual in moving the ball around tonight, so consequently that helped Roma with the high press. We also didn’t give Osimhen the right service, but he did well to find the spaces anyway.”
That Osimhen goal was perhaps the best of his Napoli career and Spalletti was exhilarated by it too.
“There is everything in that goal, technical quality, character to juggle the ball between two defenders, then he hit this rocket into the net, as he really has got a cannon for a foot. He has physical strength, accepts the challenge, tracks back to help, is good in the air. He is the complete package.”
Despite that goal and performance, Spalletti still substituted Osimhen when Napoli had just conceded the equaliser from El Shaarawy.
“You can’t always play the same guys and forget what you saw during the week from the others. We have to take into account what everyone does, how eager they all are to show what they can do. Otherwise, we are not complete coaches.
“At the start of the season when Osimhen was injured, Raspadori and Simeone allowed us to win the Champions League group, so it is not fair to just discard them now.”
Also, Roma coach Jose Mourinho compares Osimhen to Didier Drogba and admits he would ‘buy him if I was at a club with a lot of money,’ but also had a stern warning for the Napoli striker about Premier League life.
Speaking at a press conference after Roma’s 2-1 defeat at the Stadio Maradona, Mourinho was asked about Osimhen in comparison with a player he worked with at Chelsea, the legend Drogba.
“He is of the same level as Drogba, but Didier didn’t dive,” replied Mou.
“If Victor changes, then OK. I’d buy him if I was at a club with a lot of money. However, if he does go to England one day, he needs to change, because in Italy they put up with this sort of behaviour, whereas in the Premier League, they’d come down hard on him.”
The Special One also spoke to Osimhen after the match.
“I told him that he scored a wonderful goal and needs to stop diving so much. His goal was fantastic, he did the same thing when we met earlier this season, so he’s a fantastic player. But he mustn’t dive.”
