There is no doubt that Newcastle United's run has gained a lot of attention over the last few weeks as they now sit in third place ahead of Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Tottenham. Although it is probable that they don't finish in the top four, it is worth discussing the team's recent rise to the top and the incredible comparison to another team that were a surprise to many; Napoli. Last year Napoli finished third in the Serie A after being promoted to the top flight only three years earlier. Newcastle look like an English version of Napoli as there are a number of comparisons between the two clubs.
As mentioned earlier both teams are finding revivals following promotion to the top flight. Napoli had spent a few more years in the lower levels than Newcastle, falling as far as Serie C, but since promotion they have been steady competitors for a place in Europe. They qualified for the Europa league after two seasons back in the top flight and last year saw them qualify for the Champions League. Seeing as Newcastle have three straight games against the Manchester sides and Chelsea coming up, there is a high possibility they will drop out of the top three. Regardless their terrific start to the season makes them more than a contender for the Europa league. If they can continue to beat the teams they're supposed to while stealing points from some of the top clubs, as they have against Liverpool and Arsenal, they will be playing in Europe next year.
Both teams have found their superstar strikers who, although having found relative success with other teams, have truly come into their own with their current clubs. Edinson Cavani and Demba Ba are both vital for the overall success of the clubs. Cavani has scored almost 40 times in 53 appearances for his club (my numbers may be off a little), Ba has scored 8 times in 9 appearances. Prior to their current clubs, both players had similar success. Cavani scored 34 times for Palermo in 109 appearances prior to moving to Napoli while Demba Ba had 37 goals in 97 appearances for Hoffenheim prior to his move to the Premiership. At the end of last year Cavani was considered one of the top players in the world. At this pace, Demba Ba will be held in the same view by the end of the season.
Outside of how the club has performed both teams' fan bases are strikingly similar. Both teams have some of the best fans in their leagues. Newcastles fans are considered some of the best in England and some of the highest spenders on travel to watch their team on the road. Even when Napoli were in Serie C1, the fans continued to show up for games, boasting better attendance records than many of the Serie A sides (Even if most Serie A clubs get under 20,000 fans, its still impressive seeing as they were two divisions below). Speaking of the city, both are home to a very interesting dialect in comparison to the rest of the country. On the mainland of the country the Napolitano dialect is one of the more unique (Sicilian is essentially its own language). Read the opening line of Erri De Luca's Montedidio, ""A iurnata e' nu morzo," la giornata e' un morso," and one can see the difference between classic Italian and Napolitano. Newcastle has a very distinct dialect, referred to as Geordie, as their form of English has less influence of outside languages thus resulting in a more traditional anglo-english. I'm not well-rehearsed in Geordie literature, instead here is a link for the Geordie Shore, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfduEnl20CY.
It is possible that we are seeing a Premiership version of Napoli and if so it is worth noting because they make for very exciting football. It is good for the sport to see teams like Napoli and Newcastle achieve in a system that usually makes it difficult for outsiders to break the small bubble of top teams. Of course Newcastle have a more difficult task and their season is still long from finish but their start has helped them pave way for at least Europa League next season.
DISCLAIMER: I do not think that the cast of Geordie shore in anyway reflect the people from Newcastle just as the cast of Jersey Shore does not represent Italian-Americans. I would like to apologize to anyone from the Newcastle area I may have offended with the link. Cheers.
Be sure to check out SerieAweekly.com as I started writing for them.
