Seat in the stands, sporting director on his left
Not injured. Not suspended. Not ill. Noa Lang spent Napoli’s Champions League night against Arsenal in the stands of the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium, sitting next to sporting director Giovanni Manna.
Nobody tried to disguise it. Minutes before kick-off, Manna told Prime Video exactly what had happened. “He behaved inappropriately in training,” the Napoli chief said.
Three lines, and the whole thing was laid out. “The boy understood and apologised to the group. Tonight, he will watch the match with me in the stands. He will be available again tomorrow.” Punishment handed down and closed off in the same breath. By Thursday, the Dutch winger is back in contention.
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“Let’s see where we are in December”
Manna had more to get off his chest. He pushed back at supporters who found Napoli’s summer window too cautious, arguing the club held back on purpose to protect a squad that was already torn up and rebuilt a year ago.
The door has not been bolted shut, mind. “Let’s see where we are in December and then we will look at things differently,” he said. January, in other words, is still live.
On Massimiliano Allegri, under fire after back-to-back defeats, the sporting director refused to bite. Criticism is welcome as long as it is constructive, he said, before conceding that his team need to stop giving games away.
The audience was the dressing room, not the winger
Arsenal won 1-0 in Naples. Leaving a winger out on a European night gets noticed on its own. Announcing why, on television, before a ball has been kicked, is a different kind of statement.
Napoli travel again soon with a creaking start to the season and a manager already being questioned in the Italian press. Lang, meanwhile, is available on Thursday and will want the ball at his feet.
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