Former QPR Coach De Canio Insists Osimhen Wasn't Game-changer In Napoli's Win Vs Parma

Published: September 21, 2020

Former Queens Park Rangers coach Luigi De Canio has insisted that Victor Osimhen wasn't Napoli's game-changer in their opening day win against Parma in the Italian Serie A on Sunday afternoon.

With the score deadlocked at 0-0, the Nigeria international came off the bench in the 61st minute for his competitive debut for the Blues, replacing defensive midfielder Diego Demme.

Dries Mertens opened the scoring two minutes after Osimhen's introduction, before Lorenzo Insigne sealed the win in the 77th minute as Gennaro Gattuso's team began the season on a winning note.

De Canio reckons that the substitution of Demme made Napoli to be more creative and eventually win the game.

"If I expected a Victor Osimhen on the pitch while the match was in progress? Yes. It was not so much him, however, who made the game and decided it, as the substitution of Diego Demme," De Canio said on television program Campania Sport (via Area Napoli).

"Midfielder. good, yes, but in the construction of the game he has to move in other ways.

"When he has to receive the ball, the Italian-German always places his back to the goal. Juraj Kucka played on him, he could never get out of the way to receive the ball and let his teammates move.

"Consequently, the maneuver often went through the defenders, who are still defenders ".

He continued : "Before there was a triangle with a low vertex, while after Osimhen's entry a triangle with an inverted vertex was created, which gave more quality in the distribution of the ball.

"We became more creative and the actions because the team felt safer. Fabian Ruiz makes too many touches: he is more technical than Demme, but he needs to improve in certain aspects".

Up next for Osimhen and his teammates is the visit of Genoa to the Stadio San Paolo on Sunday, September 27.

Igho Kingsley

Photo Credit : ssnapoli.it

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