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ESPNsoccernet: Soccernet | |
Napoli coach Walter Mazzarri has dismissed claims that his team is over-reliant on star striker Edinson Cavani, instead bemoaning the club's busy fixture list.
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Mazzarri, who has overseen just two wins from Napoli's last seven games in all competitions having won six of their first seven in Serie A, was insistent that the poor run does not spell disaster for their attempt to challenge in the league.
"I do not think my players are tired or in a phase of crisis," he told a press conference ahead of the Europa League encounter with Dnipro. "Of course if they were playing less if there were no commitments to this cup we would be more lucid but this applies not only to my team, it applies to all teams playing midweek competitions."
However, after recently admitting Napoli must prioritise their commitments as their squad is not strong enough to compete on two fronts, Mazzarri has felt compelled to include leading scorer Cavani despite the Uruguayan being limited to just two substitute appearances in their six European fixtures thus far.
"I do not think the team is Cavani-dependent," he said. "The team is growing and we did almost six wins in a row interrupted only by Catania. If we distributed successes and failures in these 11 games no one would have anything to say."