Player Focus: Why Marek Hamsik Is Napoli's Creative Lynchpin

There is something quite wonderful about Napoli, most notably the scalpel-sharp attacking trident utilised by Walter Mazzarri last season for the Partenopei. The application of Ezequiel Lavezzi, Marek Hamsik and Edinson Cavani not only made the club aesthetically pleasing from a fans perspective, but also a dream to play with on FIFA 12.

Being a four-and-a-half star team meant, when playing online especially, one would avoid facing a jumped up teenager playing as either Barcelona or Real Madrid, before sending a tirade of abuse in the direction of the opposition gamer and quitting when going 2-0 down. 

The encounters on the game were hotly contested, with the trio heavily involved and the individual input of the three players would more often than not decide the outcome. Then, disaster struck, both for the club in reality and the realms of fantasy - Lavezzi departed the Stadio San Paolo.

The Argentine was sold to big spending Paris-Saint Germain over the summer and with it, the break up of the 'Three Tenors' was confirmed. Nevertheless, while his departure was a blow to the club, Napoli still find themselves second in Serie A and all but set to secure a Champions League place next season. 

Much of that has been down to the exploits of the remaining stars at the club. Cavani in particular has excelled once again and it's no surprise to see a number of teams across Europe attempt to secure the signature of a player dubbed 'El Matador', having since broken the 100 goal mark for Napoli following the 3-1 win over Inter Milan.

However, while the Uruguayan has been stealing the limelight, and perhaps deservedly so, it's the creative talents of Marek Hamsik that have largely gone overlooked as the season has progressed. Operating primarily as an attacking midfielder this campaign - a position he has filled in 25 of his 35 appearances for Napoli - the Slovakia international has been heavily relied upon to provide the creativity behind the strikers, usually Cavani and low-level-videogame-boss lookalike Goran Pandev.

With the striking capabilities of the pairing - the duo have scored 47.7% of Napoli's goals this season - much has been down to Hamsik operating either behind the pairing as the trequartista or sitting deeper in midfield.

Unsurprisingly, the 25-year-old currently sits third in the Serie A ranking for clear cut chances created this season, having laid on 15 opportunities for his team-mates to capitalise upon, with only Francesco Totti (21) and Antonio Cassano (16), of AS Roma and Inter Milan respectively, ahead of him. 

It isn't a shock in that case to see the Roma stalwart make more accurate through balls than the Napoli midfielder this season, with Totti (45) leading the way and Hamsik second on 29, with Cassano and Juventus' Andrea Pirlo joint third on 28.

While he may have laid on fewer clear cut opportunities for his teammates this season, he's contributed 14 assists (to set up 20.9% of Napoli's goals this season), adding a further nine goals - the highest goalscorer of players in his position in Serie A. In turn his figures boost his direct contribution percentage of goals and assists to 34.3% - an extremely impressive return for a player who never plays as a forward.

Furthermore, of those 14 assists, 10 have come in open play, again a Serie A high, with Totti (9) the closest. With those ten assists coming from 71 key passes in open play - again, a league high - his teammates are scoring 14.1% of the chances that Hamsik is laying on, excluding set pieces, further highlighting his creative capabilities.

Yet, when it comes to accurate passes in the attacking half, regardless of his assist superiority, Hamsik fails to place above Pirlo (1385) and Borja Valero (1279) in the rankings, having picked out a teammate 1144 times when Napoli are pressuring the opposition. This sees the midfielder average one assist every 114.4 passes in the opposition half.

Perhaps tellingly, however, is the respective positions of the three players. For Juventus and Fiorentina, Pirlo and Borja, respectively, sit deeper in their system. The former has made 29 appearances in the centre of midfield, while the latter 32, meaning it's no surprise to have seen them make more accurate attacking passes as a result of seeing more of the ball in general.

In comparison, Hamisk has made just nine appearances as a central midfielder, though it can be argued he performs better in the role having contributed four goals and six assists in fewer appearances in the middle of the park, compared to the four goals and eight assists when pushed further forward.

While he may have contributed to two fewer goals to his side, he has directly contributed to a goal every 0.9 games when sitting deeper, compared to an assist or goal every 2.1 games when operating in the role behind the striker. 

Walter Mazzarri's decision to utilise the Slovakian as a 'number 10', unsurprisingly, has seen his passes in his own half drop significantly lower still, with league leader in this respect Kamil Glik of Torino having picked out a teammate 1063 times. That's a full 573 passes more than Hamsik (490), although when compared to Pirlo (730) and Borja (537), that figure isn't necessarily poor, especially with the Napoli-man regularly pushed further forward to support the attack. 

While Hamsik has made fewer accurate passes in his own half, he ranks the highest in Serie A when it comes to making backwards passes, with his figure of 377 comfortably ahead of AC Milan's Stephan El Shaarawy (350), with the Italy international placing behind the Napoli star.

That may not come as a surprise considering his regular position, but having made just 541 forward passes this season - the 22nd highest in Italy - it sees his number one assist ranking appear that much more impressive. 

With the most assists from open play to match, his stats showcase his talents from midfield, especially when you consider his 'passes attempted' figure is significantly lower than that of his Serie A counterparts. In turn it further reinforces the notion of Hamsik being one of the most creative players in the game today.