Incredible but true. Walter Mazzarri has made a sensational return to the Napoli dugout a decade after leaving the club that has shown him the most love during his career.
He came close to winning the Scudetto in his first spell, but has not held a top manager’s job for the last 10 years.
Mazzarri is trusted as a man who thrives in adversity, but has been handed just a seven-month contract, knowing it is almost certain that his deal will not be extended at the end of the season.
Before further analysis, it should be underlined that changing the manager will not be able to drastically overturn the results of Napoli’s season: the summer transfer errors and problems with declining player performance are not to be attributed solely to the Rudi Garcia, who was relieved of his duties on Tuesday.
Mazzarri is a huge risk for a Napoli side that needs a coach who knows how to command respect and turn the team’s fortunes around.
Walter Mazzarri (pictured) has returned to Napoli 10 years after leaving the club
He replaces Rudi Garcia (pictured) who endured a difficult start to the season
He has taken charge of over 400 matches in Italy’s top two divisions, but two Italian Cup finals in this period is not enough to convince that he will be able to lead Napoli up the table, and they could drop further still.
In his four years in Naples, Mazzarri won the Italian Cup in 2012 and achieved a second place finish the following season in Serie A.
But their results in Europe were hardly eye-catching as they reached the round of 32 in the Europa League in 2011 and the last 16 in the Champions League in 2012.
His first spell at Napoli also began during the season when he replaced Roberto Donadoni in October 2009, and his work in southern Italy led to him being named Inter Milan manager in 2013.
Now he is back after Napoli decided to dismiss Garcia due to the breakdown in his relationship with the players.
According to Sky Sport Italia, Mazzarri had a proposal from a club in the Egyptian Championship, but ended up rejecting the lucrative contract to come back to the city that is close to his heart.
Mazzarri is a coach much loved and appreciated by president Aurelio De Laurentiis but moving from Luciano Spalletti to him in the space of five months is a dramatic drop-off for Napoli from a tactical and psychological perspective.
Napoli have gone from being the best team in Italy with the best coach to a…