This year has been rather tumultuous for Carlo Ancelotti and Napoli, his side have struggled for results in the league and have as a result fell way off the top, with top of the league Juventus, currently ahead by 15 points.

In terms of performances, Napoli haven't exactly flattered themselves, with the statistics placing them 6th for expected goals and 6th for expected goals against.

They're not exactly underperforming, so we have to look at the team and to a certain extent, the Carlo Ancelotti that I love, I admire and I idolise, with a significant level of scrutiny.

First things first, let's take a look at the defence, Napoli this season have had a rather disappointing set of defensive issues, which were meant to be remedied by the arrival of Greek CB Kostas Manolas.

The main thing for me is, how compact Napoli are, adopting the 3-4-2-1/3-2-5 shape in possession means that they are often overwhelmed in the middle of the park, with the positional issues of the two midfielders pivot adding to that, usually one of the midfielders...

isn't reserved enough, leaving the other midfielder in no man's land, this midfielder is typically Allan, therefore explaining his slightly inflated tackle statistics, with him topping the league in tackles p90 this season.

This 3-4-2-1/3-2-5 shape costs Napoli in defensive transition, with it affording too much time in the middle of the park for the opposition during breaks. Napoli signed Kostas Manolas in the summer, shipping off Diawara to Roma in exchange (I'll explain why this was a bad idea.)

Manolas is a defender who's very similar to Koulibaly in a sense, both aggressive, both physically overwhelmingly and both having terrible game reading skills. This has been fatal for Napoli during opposition attacks, especially in transition, with two defenders with little...

game reading ability you're going to lose any semblance of defensive organisation, and with Koulibaly often stepping out to progress the ball with his incredible skill on the ball, Manolas is left struggling to manage the space vacated.

In a zonal press orientated 4-4-2, the CBs need to be positionally aware, without this the defence will most likely concede high quality chances often. Napoli this season have perhaps also struggled at GK, with Meret having to make the least saves in the league p90...

but with Napoli still having a defensive record that is 6th best in the league in the eyes of xG; it begs the question, is it high quality chances?, or is Meret performing badly? I’d go with a slight mixture of the two, leaning perhaps more towards the high quality chances idea.

Napoli this season have also struggled at FB which they've done for ages, even before Carlo. Hysaj and the perpetually injured Ghoulam have had Limited game time this season, with Di Lorenzo and Rui being the primary fullbacks.

This is an issue for two reasons, one being that Rui and Di Lorenzo quality wise are both rather average, neither being creative or defensive specialists, neither being good all rounders either limiting their respective uses; the second reason for the issue...

is that they're both tiny, while it may not seem a problem at first it's quite evident that their diminutive frames limit their tactical usage.

I remember at one point Rui heading usage; I remember at one point Rui heading the ball to Koulibaly and conceding possession due to how weak the header was, it's little details like this that for Napoli can be the difference in games.

Height of FB+Lack of specialist abilities=Average FB. Both Di Lorenzo and Rui aren't particularly good 1v1, meaning that they force unnecessary pressure on their CBs to improve their own positioning.

Napoli have also struggled at points this season with quick vertical build up, perhaps limited by the 4-4-2, but perhaps also limited by a lack of a classic passing 6 who engages in build up. Diawara.

This is where Diawara comes in, bloke was perfect for this role; he graduated from the Jorginho school of scanning and releasing before the opponent has even closed down a yard, I sort of feel like Napoli players sit on the ball too long not trying to either aggravate space.

Diawara is an expert at positioning himself in a manner that means he doesn't have to aggravate space, because the opponent is immediately looking to close him down. Once again, he's clearly graduated from the Jorginho school of football.

Considering all this, the blame has to lie on Ancelotti to a degree, with Di Lorenzo he bought a versatile RB perhaps not the quality required but he needed reinforcements, with Manolas he's simply made a terrible buy.

Terrible in every regard, it's unclear to me whether it was the board or Ancelotti, but I'm pretty sure he had significant influence. Manolas just isn't it, he can't play out of the back and he doesn't have the positional awareness to cover for Koulibaly's aggression and driving.

Getting rid of Diawara has been one of the worst things Napoli have done in a while, passing 6's like that come around a few times a decade, I'm afraid to say Carlo's fumbled the bag.

4-4-2 shape also rather annoying, bad shape out of possession for the reasons named above and the 3-2-5/3-4-2-1 shape isn't ideal due to it lacking 3 central midfielders and also not perhaps fitting Napoli the best.

Will continue this thread, but for now, that's it. Enjoy.