Napoli coach Walter Mazzarri has said his side’s 4-0 home loss to Frosinone, in the Coppa Italia round of 16 could be largely due to his regulars not used to coming off the bench.
The Serie A champions suffered their heaviest home defeat in the Coppa Italia since another 4-0 to Lazio in 1958.
Napoli have now crashed out of the Coppa Italia at the round of 16 for three years running.
First team regulars like Victor Osimhen, Kvicha Kvaratskhelia, Giovanni Di Lorenzo and Matteo Politano came off the bench but could do little to avoid the humiliating loss.
Reacting to the shock defeat Mazzarri, however, praised players who are not regular starters for impressing.
“Perhaps the first choice players are not accustomed to coming off the bench and absurdly we did better with the lads who don’t play as often. We need to reflect on that,” Mazzarri told Mediaset via Football Italia.
“I want to apologise to the fans, they tried until the end to give us a hand and they did not deserve that. I do not like the way we ended the match and we will reflect on it together tomorrow.
“It can happen that the defensive shape is a little wrong after changes and the second goal was an accidental back-pass, but even when you are 2-0 down, you still have to remember that you are Napoli. It is not acceptable to end a game like that.
“When the fans cheer us on to the end, even when 2-0 down with 10 minutes to go, a goal could open it all up again. Instead, we just lost our heads. Maybe it was making two big mistakes for the goals that got to us.
“It’s a pity, you can lose in football, but not 4-0. We looked like everyone was just doing their own thing. I hope this can be a lesson for the future, as from tomorrow we must all look each other in the eye and change gear.”
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Asked if the squad rotation made his Napoli players feel that perhaps this was not as important as Serie A or the Champions League, Mazzarri said:“There are many games, I don’t know if leaving them on the bench for the Coppa Italia sent a signal subconsciously. I can tell you that playing every couple of days with no time to train is tough.
“However, you cannot lose 4-0 without even putting up a fight.”
