Ancelotti putting his mark on Napoli; Roma struggling

Carlo Ancelotti is beginning to put his mark on Napoli.

Ancelotti replaced Maurizio Sarri in the offseason and immediately began making changes.

He has shifted Marek Hamsik back to a deep-lying playmaker role, and moved Lorenzo Insigne to a more central position. He also deployed a 4-4-2 formation against Torino rather than Sarri’s preferred 4-3-3.

Napoli responded with the best half-hour of football yet under its new coach in a dominant 3-1 victory at Torino on Sunday, which saw Hamsik look completely at ease in his new role.

Napoli will face a sterner test at Juventus next weekend, after a midweek fixture against Parma.

Napoli beat Juventus in Turin last season but ultimately finished second as the Bianconeri clinched a seventh successive scudetto.

“The coach has changed but what matters is the technical level of the players on the pitch, more than formations or tactics,” said Insigne, who scored two goals against Torino.

ROMA ROT

The rot appears to have settled in at Roma but club captain Daniele De Rossi has defended under-fire coach Eusebio Di Francesco.

“With all respect to Bologna and Chievo Verona, you don’t need to have Pep Guardiola on the bench to beat them,” he said. “I don’t think it’s the time to put all the blame on the coach.”

But Di Francesco needs to turn things around swiftly. Roma faces Frosinone tomorrow and then has the capital derby against Lazio.

Roma has not won following an opening-day victory against Torino. Since then it has drawn two and lost the other two in Serie A, while it was demolished 3-0 at Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Sunday’s 2-0 defeat at Bologna – which hadn’t scored a goal in its previous four matches – was the worst yet.

“If only I had an explanation,” Di Francesco said. “I’m not the type to look for excuses: We need answers and I can’t find them, and I’m responsible for that. We continue to embarrass ourselves, and the facts condemn us or rather they condemn me.”