The talisman’s role has been uncertain since Ancelotti’s arrival and, with Liverpool in town, a solution is not obvious
There is no current player more synonymous with Napoli than Marek Hamsik. It is not just because he is captain, or uniquely identifiable by his mohawk, or the fact that after 11 years in Naples he recently overtook Diego Maradona as the club’s all-time leading scorer. Hamsik and his family have been robbed at gunpoint three times in the city and yet he stays, recently declaring in his autobiography that he would never leave for Juventus, as his former teammate Gonzalo Higuaín did.
Yet the truth is that nobody looks more out of place in the latest iteration of this Napoli team than Hamsik. With both Maurizio Sarri and Jorginho departed for Chelsea, the Slovakian has been asked by new manager Carlo Ancelotti to fill Jorginho’s boots at the base of midfield, with mixed results, and it remains possible that Hamsik will be left out of the starting XI for Napoli’s crucial Champions League match against Liverpool on Wednesday night.
Written by Michael Butler
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/oct/03/marek-hamsik-napoli-liverpool-carlo-ancelotti under the title “Marek Hamsik dilemma compounds new-look Napoli’s identity issues | Michael Butler”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
