Napoli dropped expensive points against low-flying Hellas Verona on Sunday evening. At home, Antonio Conte’s team did not get further than 2-2, after trailing 0-2 at halftime. The Italian newspapers are unanimously critical of the champion’s game and Noa Lang’s name also appears remarkably often. The Dutchman was given a lot of space, provided an assist, but was unable to convince.
Eurosport Italia is unrelenting about Lang’s actions. The forward has been described as ‘an unstructured player if there ever was one’. “Lang goes forward, back, dribbles and ultimately trips over his own legs,” is the verdict. The medium gave him a six as a score, but emphasizes that this was only due to his second half. ‘In the second half he decided to tie his laces and played a more than decent finish.’
Bee The Napolista the judgment is even sharper. The medium notes: ‘Lang was elusive, as always, but in a negative sense.’ In their traditional section they labeled him a flop. Lang is given the judgments ‘modesto’ (modest level) and ‘inutile’ (useless). Also the regional AreaNapoli joins the chorus of critics. AreaNapoli gives Lang a failing grade and treats him to a five. ‘Fail. Invisible and without influence on the game.’
Yet Lang had a contribution to Napoli’s comeback after the break. Both Corriere dello Sport as The Morning describe how his shot in the 53rd minute led to the corner. The Dutchman then stood behind the ball himself and delivered a cross to the head of Scott McTominay. The Scot headed home. “Montipò turned Lang’s shot, but then missed the subsequent corner, giving Napoli hope again,” said The Morning. According to both newspapers, it was Lang’s only real achievement of the match. Shortly afterwards he was substituted. They also see that as confirmation of his limited impact on the game.
La Gazzetta dello Sport pointed out that Lang has difficulty with Conte’s tactical demands. “He hardly connected with the team game and often interrupted his actions with unnecessary accelerations or wrong choices,” writes the legendary pink sports newspaper. Lang’s performance was so limited that besides his assist and substitution, he could not be found in the match report. The Napolista saw that Lang ‘couldn’t add much’ and even speaks of a pattern: ‘As so often, Lang was mainly present in his absence.’
With grades ranging from insufficient to just passing, Lang comes off poorly, despite his assist. Even the small revival after the break cannot save the overall impression of his performance. “Lang rarely convinces, and these kinds of matches in which he has to get up make it all the more painful,” is the general tone in the Italian sports press.
