De Bruyne's midfield partners are stuck in the treatment room

The Gazzetta dello Sport says head coach Allegri wants to build a four-man midfield around De Bruyne, Anguissa, Lobotka and McTominay. Right now only Lobotka is fully fit, with Anguissa injured again and McTominay still working his way back from heart surgery.

by Gennaro SanninoSunday 27 September, 22:27 CET· yesterday

De Bruyne con la maglia del SSC Napoli — Foto: football-italia.net

Allegri is working on a way to make De Bruyne an asset rather than a puzzle. The idea, reported on Sunday 27 September, involves all four of Napoli's midfielders sharing the pitch at once: De Bruyne, Anguissa, Lobotka and McTominay together. Fitting all four in would need smart use of space and of each player's qualities so Napoli do not lose defensive solidity.

That plan runs straight into the treatment room. Anguissa is out with a relapse of the myofascial strain to his right adductor longus. He did not appear in the training report on Friday 25 September and is doubtful for the Frosinone game on Saturday 10 October. McTominay had heart surgery, an ablation, in Manchester on Wednesday 9 September and returned on Monday 21 September; he is continuing soft, differentiated training, and Allegri hopes to have him back in the week beginning Sunday 27 September. Of that four-man midfield, only Lobotka and De Bruyne himself are currently available on a regular basis.

De Bruyne comes to this after a first part of the season of alternating performances, with Napoli ninth on 7 points after five games and coming off a draw in Florence. It is in this context that Allegri wants to get more out of his technique, vision and ability to make a difference in the final third — qualities the Belgian has shown in patches without yet turning them into consistent form in Napoli colours.

A plan waiting for its missing pieces

Planning a four-man midfield while two of its four members are sidelined says something about where Napoli are right now: thinking about tomorrow's tactical balance while the team is still struggling to find today's. The international break could have been a chance to work on it away from league pressure. Instead it also brought a fresh Anguissa injury and a McTominay recovery that is still not complete.

The test comes on Saturday 10 October, when Napoli host Frosinone at the Maradona in an attempt to turn around what Opta data show as the club's worst start in ten years. If Anguissa is not ready in time and McTominay only returns in stages, the four-man midfield sketched out by the Gazzetta will stay an idea on the whiteboard. Allegri will have to decide how to get the best from De Bruyne with the players he actually has, not the ones on paper for a project that is still waiting to be completed.