Osimhen records his worst game in Napoli’s colours – former Udinese boss
By Oviri Kelvin, Sports Editor, Abuja
Italian football coach Serse Cosmi said the worst game played by the Nigeria Super Eagle Victor Osimhen was the Europa League round of 32 clash with Barcelona.
Cosmo, who coached the Udinese club, opined that Osimhen was always out of line in Napoli’s attack against Barcelona that played with a very high line.
He advised that Napoli’s striker needs to improve if he is to make an impact in the Europa second leg tie against the Spanish club in Naples.
Recounting the number of times Osimhen went offside in the contest, he added that the Nigeria senior men’s football player drifts created difficulty for his teammates, Zielinski and Elmas, who did not have the offloading passes to connect with Osimhen so preferred doing it vertically which made little impact.
The former Udinese boss spotted that with the high line Barcelona tactically played with, Osinhem was forced to go offside. He added that it was not the best match played by the Partenopei.
From the media report, the 63 years old Cosmo said, “Against Barcelona, Osimhen he had to be among the best in the field, and instead I don’t know how many times he went offside.
“The boy has to improve a lot, a lot because when he plays against a team that has a very high line you have to be careful.
“By doing so you also put your teammates in difficulty because with that movement in-depth you allow the insertion of Zielinski and Elmas but instead they never make it because he stretches deeply and the midfielder never has the unloading pass and is forced to do it vertically.
“Unfortunately with a high line, Osimhen happens to go offside. It was not his best match, in fact in my opinion it was the worst.”
However, Napoli will be hosting Barcelona in the second leg clash at the Diego Maradona stadium in Napoli to capitalise on its home advantage and away goal to qualify for the next round of 16.
Before the Barcelona match, Napoli who are presently in the third position of the Serie A table with 53 points from 25 games, takes on Cagliari today, Monday, to continue their Serie A campaign while mounting intense pressure on league leaders, AC Milan who are only three points ahead of them having played one more.
Moreover, before the second leg clash with Napoli, the fourth league-placed Barcelona who have 29 points from 23 games in the Spanish Primera division, played Valencia at the Mestalla Stadium on Sunday
