Spalletti criticises Osimhen after Napoli loss to Fiorentina
Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti has criticised Victor Osimhen for his below-par performance in their 3-2 defeat to Fiorentina.
Sunday’s loss at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona dealt a blow to Napoli’s Serie A title chances as they dropped to third in the table, with two points behind leaders AC Milan.
Osimhen provided the assist for Dries Mertens’ equaliser in the 58th minute and he later found the back of the net in the 84th minute, but Spalletti is far from happy with the Nigerian’s display.
“Fiorentina play man against man, Milenkovic pushes far up to chase his man and leaves these spaces we could’ve made more of,” the Italian coach told DAZN.
“If you don’t have the quality to dribble your way out of trouble, then you end up with long balls.
“Osimhen wasn’t in the best shape today, as he skipped a couple of training sessions. He did well, but could’ve done better in these physical duels with Igor.”
Osimhen has scored 12 goals in 21 Serie A games this season.
When quizzed about Napoli’s Scudetto chances with six games left to play for, Spalletti said: “Of course things change, because clearly now it’s all more difficult.
“We have no choice other than to be professional, try to win the next game and see what happens. It is no longer in our hands.”
