Rudi Garcia blames De Laurentiis for his Napoli sacking

Rudi Garcia is talking again about his brief spell at Napoli, which ended after just four months when Aurelio De Laurentiis decided to sack him. The Frenchman, who was fourth in the table at the time, maintains the split had nothing to do with results and everything to do with disagreements with the president over how the squad was run.

In an interview with The Athletic, reported by TuttoMercatoWeb, Garcia describes himself as a Mediterranean man with hot blood and admits he enjoyed his time in Naples too. In his telling, the president dismissed him not over results but because he wanted to make the decisions a coach should make.

Garcia also recalled the disciplinary case involving Balogun during the World Cup, when he was in charge of Belgium. His sporting director told him the red card might be overturned and the player could play. At first he thought it was a joke, but it turned out to be true. He then told his players to stay focused and think only about the match.