Napoli presented the successor to the departed Luciano Spalletti on Thursday. The champion of Italy teams up with Rudi Garcia, who was recently fired from Al-Nassr.
Napoli has a bite and presents a new trainer
The 59-year-old Garcia was mainly active in France. He reached the semi-finals of the Champions League with Olympique Lyon and was also a trainer of Olympique Marseille, OSC Lille, Le Mans, Dijon and Saint-Etiénne. In Italy, Garcia trained AS Roma and Al-Nassr was his last club.
In the search for a successor to Spalletti, Napoli did not take any chances. Chairman Aurelio de Laurentiis made no secret of the fact that Luis Enrique was high on the list, but that the Spaniard also had offers from the Premier League. The choice ultimately fell on Garcia.
Spalletti and Napoli did not continue with each other because the club and manager could not agree on several areas. Spalletti announced a one-year sabbatical.
National coach makes a striking comeback to America
Speaking of coaches, America will work again with national coach Gregg Berhalter. The American, who led the team at the World Cup in Qatar and was eliminated by Louis van Gaal’s Orange squad, did not see his contract extended after the final tournament.
The Athletic knows that a new collaboration is coming between Berhalter and America. The coach took the helm in 2019 and made himself popular with the fans through his style of play. Nevertheless, Berhalter’s expiring contract was not extended after the World Cup, BJ Callaghan has so far done the honours. Under him, the final of the Nations League was reached on Friday.
Despite Berhalter’s success with America, his quick return is still surprising. One of the reasons his contract was not renewed was an argument during the World Cup with Giovanni Reyna and the aftermath. Given his qualities, Reyna was considered a potential star in the global final tournament, but Berhalter hardly used him due to lack of commitment in the training sessions. The Borussia Dortmund player eventually made two raids, against England and the Netherlands.
After the World Cup, an investigation was launched into intolerable behaviour by Berhalter, the information that led to the investigation turned out to be from Reyna’s mother. Now that peace has returned to Berhalter after six months, the American can also return to the American team. For now, he will watch America play the Nations League final under interim coach Callaghan. But the reading is that Berhalter will lead the team at the Gold Cup in June.
