Mr. Lu may be out of the situation for three months after being seriously injured. Kong Erlangzi will change or not?

An injury announcement released by the official website of the Italian club Naples caused a shock in the football world: the team's core winner of the Serie A championship last season, Lukaku, Lukaku, was seriously torn his left rectus femoris muscle and needed surgery and was absent for at least three months.

This emergencies not only ended the Belgian striker's season early, but also pushed the defending champion to a crossroads of tactical adjustments.

The whole story of the injury: The deadly three minutes in the friendly match

In the friendly match against Olympiacos on August 15, Lukaku suddenly fell to the ground in pain after completing the shot in the 32nd minute. Slow motion on the scene showed that he stood up and tried to adjust his pace but staggered and fell, and was then helped by his teammates to leave the field. After three hours of examination in the hospital, the diagnosis result was confirmed to be a high-level tear of the rectus femoris on the left thigh and surgery was required immediately.

Although it is initially expected to be on standby for one month, the latest medical evaluation shows that its recovery period will be as long as three and a half months, which means he will miss the Serie A opening match (August 24) and the first two key rounds of the Champions League group stage.

"It's like losing the steering wheel in a heavy rain. " Head coach Kong Erlangzi was solemn at the press conference. As the core fulcrum of the team's tactical system, Lukaku contributed 14 goals and 10 assists in 38 games last season, including 14 goals and 10 assists in 36 games in Serie A. His absence not only weakened the ability to finish the front line, but also paralyzed Napoli's tactical system that relied on its high-altitude top-square (62% of header success rate per game) and set-piece threat (directly participating in set-piece scores accounted for 35% of the team) to fall into paralysis.

Tactical Dilemma: Kong Erlangzi's change and unchange

Lukaku's tactical value far exceeds that of the data itself. In the "National Derby" against Inter Milan, Juventus and AC Milan last season, he directly participated in 50% of the team's goals (3 goals and 2 assists), of which the two winning goals against Inter Milan were assists after competing for the top of the sky.

As the team's tactical fulcrum, Lukaku's height and ability to compete for 1.91 meters (3.2 times per game in Serie A) creates space for wide players: when he is on the court, winger Lorenzo Luca's breakthrough success rate has increased by 19% (from 37% to 56%).

Now, Kong Erlangzi faces a double challenge: that is, the filling of combat power and the adaptation of the system, new aid De Bruyne needs to hold the ball, and Lukaku's absence may force Kong Erlangzi to give up the "dual-core drive" tactic and return to a more traditional formation.

Lineup reconstruction: Maximum utilization of existing resources

Before the signing window is closed (August 31), Naples needs to solve three major problems:

system reconstruction

Weakening fulcrum function: reduce the dependence on the ball on the back, and switch to the fast conduction mode of De Bruyne's straight pass + winger breakthrough.

Setting ball attack: Use Krenic (center-back) heading ability (third in Serie A heading last season) to make up for the threat of high altitude.

Lukaku's injury response strategy

Short term: with Politano as the core, with Loboteka's midfielder forward, youth training young players assist in the transition.

Mid-term: Fight for Pinamonti or Dovbik to ensure that the summer window is strengthened.

Long-term: Restart Zilkze negotiations in the winter window, and contact free agents to supplement the depth.

Youth Training: Rossi and Maniani need to accelerate their growth, but they cannot fill the gap in the short term.

The vulnerability of the giants defending the title, and Lukaku's injury history reveal the cruelty of the top league. For Napoli, they need to fight on three fronts this season, and the depth of the lineup is facing unprecedented tests.

I wonder how Kong Erlangzi will deal with this sudden change in the end?