Player of the Season nominees: Edinson Cavani

With the season having ended, Sportskeeda decided to let its viewers rate the 30 best players of the season.

We will be shortlisting 30 of the best performers this term, and let you pick your winner.

What do you think? Have your say at the end of the article.

Napoli’s much successful 2012-13 campaign, as they finished runners up in the race to win the much coveted Scudetto behind Juventus, was reminiscent of their glory days back in the 1980s. It was no co incidence that the rise of the Naples’ side happened to take place back then with the arrival of Diego Maradona, arguably the finest player to have graced the football field. Couple of decades later, Napoli are once again on the rise with another South American being the propelling force behind their surge upwards. Such meteoric has been his rise that Edinson Cavani has become the ‘new Maradona’ in these parts of Italy.

Overview

Edinson Cavani finished the last season as Serie A’s top scorer with 29 goals becoming the first Napoli player to achieve this feat since El Diego. Walter Mazarri’s side ended the season as the most prolific with Cavani being involved in approximately every alternate goal they scored. But the South American striker is far from just a goal scorer, bordering closer to a complete footballer and worth every million that clubs would spend on him to lure him away from San Paolo.

Cavani’s time at Palermo prior to World Cup 2010 was anything but memorable as he was used more in the wide areas than centrally, where he ideally likes to operate. So, when the opportunity to play in his much preferred role at Napoli did come calling ‘El Matador’ found it too difficult to resist. A season long loan with a €12 million permanently buy option was perhaps the smartest piece of business that Napoli have done in eons. The rest, as most of you and every Neapolitan would say, is history as Cavani went on to score 104 goals for the club in three seasons.

Style of Play

Walter Mazarri’s Napoli mostly banked on their swift counter attacks with an organized defensive backline comprising of the likes of Hugo Campagnaro, Paolo Cannavarro and Miguel Bristos. And Cavani’s work rate in breaking down opposition play and initiate counter attacks can never be overemphasized. The Napoli number seven drops down as deep his own half to win back the ball, almost brilliantly summing up his industrial side of the game. And that is one attribute of his that has been appreciated and hailed by Uruguayan coach Oscar Tabarez in the past.

“He’s an important player for us. He fights hard, he tries to play and when he doesn’t manage to do so, he still fights and that’s important.” Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez, November 2011.

Cavani is like a clinical finisher and a midfield dynamo rolled into one. The number of goals that he has scored for his team is a tribute to his stamina as much as his natural ability to score goals. Strong and powerful, he can shoot past the goalkeeper from yards out as well as get at the end of a cross to nod the ball in. The reported Chelsea target is unequivocally considered as one of the best finishers in Europe but what most people fail to see through are his high levels of fitness. Despite Napoli playing a high tempo goal to goal game and Cavani’s high defensive and offensive work rate, the striker has barely missed matches for his side ever since his move three years back. The number of goals he scores in the final quarters of the matches exemplifies the above.

Be it the fine turn and shoot against Atalanta last season or the desperate slide to toe poke the ball into the net at the end of a tireless run against Inter, Cavani does it all. The only aspect where he can improve is his passing as he tends to misplace them at times.

Key Facts: Stats to look at

First Napoli FC player since Diego Maradona to be Serie A top scorer.
Cavani’s longest goal drought lasted a month from Ferbruary to March ’13 when he failed to score or assist in seven games in a row.
His longest goal scoring streak lasted seven weeks when he scored in seven games in a row from November ’12 to January ’13.
Cavani has a poor goal scoring record against the top four sides as he has managed to score once against Fiorentina while failing to score any against AC Milan and Juventus.
Cavani has scored in 24 matches this season and Napoli have won 17 of them while losing only 5 of them and drawing the rest.
Cavani has scored 29 times and assisted 4 goals in the Serie A which sums up to an overall 33 goal contributions. Hence, he has roughly been involved in every alternate goal Napoli scored.
Cavani is the club’s third all time top scorer with 104 goals and only eleven behind Diego Maradona.

Edinson Cavani has been recently the subject of much speculation as Chelsea, Real Madrid and a host of other clubs have been swooping around like vultures to get his signature. It remains to be seen if the Uruguayan commits his long term future at the club or seeks pastures new. With the Neapolitans once again starting to dream big, of the Scudettos and the UEFA cups, it remains to be seen if the footballer born on February 14^th can keep romance alive. Only time will tell if people in San Paolo can once again scream ‘Ieri, Oggi, Domani…Sempre Cavani’, which translates to ‘Yesterday, today, tomorrow. Always Cavani’.

Here is a look at the goals scored by Edinson Cavani last season:

Click here to view the rest of the Player of the Season nominees