Mazzarri rules Napoli out of Scudetto chances

Rome, Decem Dec 17 (IANS) Manager Walter Mazzarri ruled out Napoli’s chances of winning the Italian Serie A following his side’s 2-3 defeat to Bologna.

Mazzarri said, as Juventus, who are now the Winter Champions with a seven-point lead at the top of the table, are nearly invincible, Napoli should focus on other objectives than the Serie A title, reports Xinhua.

“The whole ‘anti-Juventus’ thing is a slogan the media thought up and I’m sick of it. Juventus are doing something extraordinary and I’ ve said since the summer that we have to grow,” he said.

“We’ re all on a par now for second place and will see how the season ends, as I don’ t see anyone else right now who can compete with Juve. Maybe things will change, but it’ s tough when they’ re playing like that. We should focus on other objectives,” he added.

Then he criticised his players for wasting chances in the match.

“These players gave their all tonight. When you waste that many chances at this level, you will pay. I don’t know how many opportunities we had to finish it off,” he said.

“Napoli created many scoring opportunities and Bologna scored on one of only two chances they had in the first half,” he said.

“Our defect is that once we take the lead, we think the job is done. It has happened many times and we don’ t finish sides off.

“We get distracted and unconsciously the players think the victory is safe. That is where we really must improve and make that step up in quality, otherwise we’ ll keep dropping points continually,” he said.

IANS 2012-12-17 13:54:29