12.35 – Luca Gotti he is expected at a press conference on the eve of Lecce-Atalanta. Live written on TMW.
12.45 – The conference begins.
What are the stimuli?
“There is no need for stimuli, we are carrying out our profession. This is in itself a stimulus, we have to live in harmony with it. We have two important Serie A matches against strong teams, it’s a question of mentality. The mentality was fundamental in the Atalanta’s path in the last 10 years”.
What game are you expecting?
“Gasperini has the merit of having brought a lot of wealth to Serie A. He was Gasperini even 15 years ago, he already had this type of tactical imprinting. He imposes an almost man-to-man game on his opponent. When he led the small teams, the big ones managed to gradually impose himself. Then over time he improved Atalanta’s players, so no Serie A team can face the match normally. He traces a furrow and Juric, Tudor, Palladino arrive on that furrow… the opponent plays in that way. from the first day of training camp, we have to go to their Serie A ground there are 8 games with a different tactical canon because of him, this is wealth for the championship.
What room for growth does Gallo have? National?
“I’m not very clear about Spalletti’s panorama and possibilities of choice. I believe with reasonable certainty, and this also applies to Gendrey, that this year has been one of transformation. They have evolved considerably. For both of them I would say that there is still excellent room for improvement. They are not finished as players yet, they have big margins. They are guys who intend to cover these margins and therefore I expect them to be able to amaze a lot of people.”
Will we return to the Piccoli-Krstovic pairing?
“Yes. The particularity of our opponent requires us to think differently, for example about defensive exits. Something will change in our attitude.”
Do Berisha and Pierotti have the chance to start?
“They have it. Last week the team seemed ready to me, then the pitch proved me wrong. It took me a few days to get over the disappointment of the match, I wasn’t happy with it. I haven’t seen a team on holiday.”
Dorgu?
“He is a very young boy who is completely available. He seems to have great adaptability, he enjoys playing on the pitch. Important people from the football world are starting to call me to ask me what I see. A few years ago Mazzarri was coaching Napoli and for in the January transfer window, Napoli were looking for a left wing player in the 3-5-2. I had seen a perfect team player in the youth teams. I spoke to the Napoli market man and recommended Bale to him to talk to Tottenham who were planning to give him. A few days and he scores a hat-trick against Inter, he becomes a striker and untransferable. He could have played as a full-back, but this could happen.
Can we talk about a Lecce miracle?
“My idea of Lecce seen from the outside is the reason that brings me here. I rejected many proposals to come here. Inside I saw what I saw outside. Let’s deal with this championship, then let’s think together about how to think about the continuation.”
Atalanta could start with some reservations.
“It’s not easy to say who the starters are, they have at least 18 players alternating. It’s right that their focus is on Europe, but whoever plays I really believe will be up to the task.”
1.00 pm – Mister Gotti’s conference ends.