Allegri sticks with 4-3-3 in Avellino test, drops Neres into midfield

In a closed-doors friendly at Castel Volturno (the training ground) on Friday 2 October, the head coach dismissed a week of talk about a back three — with 18 players missing, he adapted Neres as a midfielder instead.

by Gennaro SanninoFriday 2 October, 15:16 CET· 4 hours ago

Allegri con la maglia del Napoli — Foto: corrieredellosport.it

A day of denials at Castel Volturno. In Friday's test, 2 October, against Alessandro Nesta's Avellino, played behind closed doors, Massimiliano Allegri did not try a back three at any point. Napoli lined up in a 4-3-3, the same system used in the league so far this season.

In the previous days, Corriere dello Sport and Il Mattino had named Sam Beukema as the man for a possible back three, while Sky Sport did not rule out a switch to 3-4-2-1 for the Frosinone game. Repubblica had written that Allegri had so far only gone along with the 4-3-3 without full conviction. Friday's test pointed in the opposite direction to all of that.

What mattered more than the system was the crisis in numbers: 18 players were unavailable between internationals and injuries. Ten were away on international duty, and Allegri was also missing McTominay, Meret, Marianucci, Anguissa, Alisson, Giovane and Spinazzola, as well as Buongiorno.

The line-up and the midfield problem

Journalist Ciro Troise, speaking on Radio Napoli Centrale, reported the starting eleven picked by Allegri: Contini; Beukema, Rrahmani, Badiashile, Melnyk; Neres, Chiummariello, Anic; Politano, Lucca and Pereyra. The story of the day was Neres, pulled back to play as a midfielder.

"It's also true that Allegri doesn't have any midfielders," Troise said.

It's a comment that captures the moment well. With Anguissa out through a recurring adductor injury and McTominay still in the early stages of his recovery from heart surgery, Allegri had to rebuild a midfield left short-handed — and he did it by moving a winger inside rather than testing alternative defensive solutions.

It remains to be seen whether Friday's 4-3-3 is the final answer in the debate over the system, or just one of several experiments in a break during which Allegri has, for the first time this season, had time to try things out. The real test comes on Saturday 10 October, when Napoli host Frosinone at the Maradona needing to end their worst start to a season in ten years.