Presentation day, yesterday at home Lecce. The Salento club, having greeted Gotti, starts again from Marco Giampaolo who returns to coach in Serie A two years after his last experience with Sampdoria: “Football has changed a lot. Before there were those who thought about manning the spaces, today we play man to man. There are no longer systems of game, defends in one way and attacks in another”, were the first words of the coach in the press conference, accompanied for the occasion by the club president, Sticchi Damiani, and by the managers of the technical area Corvino and Trinchera.
Here are Giampaolo’s full statements: “Two years is a long time, but after an initial break I started working again. The work is also mental, simulating being on the pitch. In the last year I worked in smart working. I saw Lecce, not live but on TV during I’ve reviewed this championship in detail in recent days. I have great enthusiasm before judging the players. I’ve trained them in a new environment maybe a month, then at the time I played in a way that wasn’t congenial to his characteristics. I remember a determined boy, I’m happy to meet him again.”
Do you already know how Rebic will play?
“How many players do we have in the squad? It shouldn’t be a reason to evaluate where I will play them. Everyone must be a resource for the team, Rebic like Krstovic and Burnete. My focus has always been the team. The games are played with 16 men, we have to make a leap in mental quality.”
How has football changed in these two years?
“It’s changed. Before there were those who thought they were controlling the spaces, today we play man to man. Today there are no longer any game systems, we defend in one way and attack in another. A lot has changed and we have to keep up with the changes”.
Where will he intervene on a tactical and mental level?
“There have been teams fighting for survival, we have to play until the last match. Now I will have to get to know the players in detail and understand which direction to take. We have seven national teams who are not there. Today there are 12 of us training” .
Corvino asked for a field coach. What does it mean for you?
“Field coaches is a football jargon that directors use. You should ask the director what he meant, I have characteristics that represent me.”
What form will you use?
“The team was built to play in one way: 4 defense, 3 midfielders, 2 wingers and 1 first striker. If you want to see it like this statically…”.
She builds from deep but we have two right-footed defenders. Is it conditioning?
“Not all teams have a right-footed player and a left-footed player. It’s a vision that can help more or less. We need to delve into technical-tactical discussions. I don’t think it’s the end of the world.”
Do you think corrections are necessary in January?
“I have to go inside to be more precise. I have to discover the world of Lecce. I saw matches, we exchanged ideas and we talked.”
Why did you say yes to Lecce?
“Lecce is a great opportunity for me. I believe there are players who have the characteristics to express my thoughts. It’s a yes motivated by technical arguments. I had proposals abroad, an abroad that only had an economic and non-technical flavour. Corvino he asked me to work. He spoke to me about Lecce as a beautiful city.”
What will be the characteristic traits of Giampaolo’s Lecce?
“I want to play football. If he has superior ball possession it means I have the ball more than the opponent. To play football you need knowledge and technical qualities. I believe there are technical qualities in this team. For me, the longer you are, the more run, for one thing.”
How important is cheering?
“Determinant. The team must always be encouraged and booed if it deserves the boos. The players are human beings and I believe unconditional support is crucial.”
What can impact the race for salvation?
“The details, in work and behavior”.
What if you had to describe it with an adjective?
“I’m looking to reaffirm my ideas of football and this team, this club, this environment are giving me an opportunity.”
Are there differences between a team that has to win the championship and one that has to save itself?
“On a work level, no. Then it’s clear that in a big club you always have to win, while when you have to save yourself you have to be resilient
You defined the director as a musical footballer. Do you think there is a player like this in Lecce?
“I have to get inside. The term is right. I have to understand if there is a musical footballer.”
Dorgu right or left?
“I like players who play tall with their feet inverted. I like players who come to play inside the pitch. If you have a player who likes to go straight to forehand you have to think about him in a different way.”
Closing.
“I want to thank the club for this opportunity, we hope that this experience will be positive for everyone.”
Here are Sticchi Damiani’s full statements: “We give a very warm welcome to mister Giampaolo. A choice that we wanted to make because we believe the path and the identity that the team must have are fundamental. These values go far beyond the result. We have always thought about the journey. I present the club to the mister We started from Serie C and took a journey that took us to our third consecutive year in Serie A. For the last 5 years we have been accompanied by director Corvino and Stefano Trinchera. A young, cutting-edge laboratory : the stadium will be renovated, we have purchased a sports center of our own. This season is an appointment with history: Lecce has never been saved in Serie A for three consecutive years. We are one point away from salvation. moody, which rekindles easily. It’s a pleasure to have Giampaolo here, good luck.”
Here are Corvino’s full statements: “When you believe you have lost a path you have the responsibility to intervene. We are not the children of the results, our decisions are the children of other values that we consider as important as the results. It was right to change. We hadn’t done it when we had lost so many games in a row with Baroni because we had a shared path. Today we are here to present the new helmsman, new crew chief. It will not be easy to change course. It will be an even more difficult task, but Lecce succeeds field means a coach who has a course and doesn’t change it along the way, because if you change course you don’t know where you’ll end up. I want a coach who works on a course to get to the result, the important thing is that yes you work day by day to improve the route. I called Giampaolo ten years ago to take him to Florence, but he made an empty trip early in the morning.”