Napoli Manager Luciano Spalletti Sets New Record For Most Serie A Wins

The 2022/23 season has so far been one to remember for Luciano Spalletti, the main architect behind Napoli’s outstanding performances in Serie A and the UEFA Champions league.

The 63-year-old Certaldo, Tuscany native, who has turned his side into a ruthless goal-scoring machine this year, wrote history over the weekend, as he became the manager with the largest number of Serie A wins since the introduction of the three-points-for-a-win system.

After a decade-long career as a professional soccer player, Spalletti began his managerial journey in 1993 with then-Serie C side Empoli, where he earned consecutive promotions to Serie B and, eventually, Serie A.

It wasn’t until the 2004/05 season that his coaching abilities really stood out in Italy’s top-flight. That year, he led Udinese, a mid-of-the-table team operating on a relatively tight budget, to their first historic qualification to the UEFA Champions League, Europe’s most prestigious and lucrative tournament.

His remarkable work with the Friulani caught the attention of one of Italy’s major clubs, AS Roma, where he stayed for four years and hoisted two Coppa Italia trophies. He then moved abroad to become the head coach of FC Zenit in Saint Petersburg, Russia, clinching two Russian Premier League titles and adding international experience to his resume.

Spalletti returned to Italy in 2016, signing first with AS Roma, where he nearly won the Scudetto despite enduring strong criticism for the little playing time awarded to captain Francesco Totti, and then with Inter Milan, bringing the Nerazzurri back to the UEFA Champions League after a six-year drought.

Spalletti, who has been Napoli’s head coach since 2021, possesses a unique ability to blend the most innovative soccer trends and tailor them to the distinctive traits of the players at his disposal.

To implement his attack-minded, possession-based soccer ideas, he favors a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 system with inverted wingers, two positions that have been filled magnificently by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Matteo Politano at Napoli this season.

Spalletti is currently on a €3 million ($3.3m) annual salary according to Calcio e Finanza wage estimates, reportedly making him Italy’s fifth highest-paid manager in a ranking that is topped by Juventus’s Massimiliano Allegri and AS Roma’s Jose Mourinho.

Despite Napoli’s incredible performances, Spalletti hasn’t yet extended the terms of his deal, which is set to expire in June. In a recent press conference, he said that he is not thinking about his contract renewal, as he would rather focus all his energy on achieving the team’s goal of clinching the Serie A title.

Spalletti has now amassed 540 games as a head coach in Serie A, winning 276 times and thus overtaking legend Carlo Ancelotti for most victories in Italy’s top-flight.

Perhaps more importantly, Napoli’s most recent 2-0 result over Salernitana pushed the Partenopei 12 points clear of second-placed AC Milan in the Serie A table.

Thanks to their impressive 16-2-1 record, Napoli have averaged 2.63 points per game in the first half of the 2022/23 Serie A campaign, a pace that puts them on track to hit the 100-point mark by the end of the season. They also boast the league’s most prolific attack with 46 goals and best defense with just 14 goals conceded in 19 games.

Should Spalletti maintain this winning rate with Napoli, it would be impossible for anybody to stand between him and the one prize that has always eluded him throughout his long Serie A career: the highly-coveted Scudetto.