The calm before the storm, the calm before diving into an adventure waiting to be discovered. The Benevento is preparing to get on the playoff carousel, with the desire to dare, to lull its legitimate ambitions. The first obstacle to overcome Triestina who, despite a few too many worries, got the better of Giana Erminio in the previous round. Ahead of the first leg match scheduled for Tuesday at the ‘Nereo Rocco’, the Giallorossi coach Gaetano Auteri took stock of the situation in the Strega house.
DEBUT – “We arrive well at this appointment, because in these 15 days we have worked well and solved some problems, such as those that affected Improta and Ciciretti. I’m sorry to have missed Pastina and Terranova. On Triestina, when you get to this point, all the teams are level, there isn’t much difference. An important team, I know many of them, they play in a particular way; we are curious to face them, with the desire to get as far as possible. Many say that the play-offs are a lottery, but for me that’s not the case.”
CHOICES – “I told the boys that we did the best things when we were all together, when we didn’t have dispersions and when each of them made an important contribution. It will be crucial to continue along this path. This is a healthy, motivated group that wants to go far. There are hierarchies, but playing every three days, everyone will be needed, because there won’t be time to recover. Overall we’re fine, to move forward we need to be united: this is the message I conveyed to the team.”
DEFENSE – “I consider the four-man defense to be a more cautious solution, it would give us the possibility of choosing a few more sliders. With wingers like Masciangelo, Simonetti and Improta I don’t like to do it much because we would be unbalanced. Viscardi? He has quality, but Meccariello is also much better than 15 days ago. I don’t know how to make him play from the start, I’ll talk to him, because after you haven’t played for an entire season it’s an unknown, but there’s no question of his value. In my opinion it will be important in this journey that we will begin to follow”
CICIRETTI AND IMPROTA – “They are ready to play, because they only had small problems. They are players who have had a better career path than Meccariello, they are different situations. I am convinced that they will give us a great hand”
TRIESTINA – “In the first round he often achieved better results away than at home. We won’t reveal what we will do from a tactical point of view, we have to play it through our rules, put it into rhythm, even if it can’t always be done. We will always have to be positive. We will face a team that will play with 3-5-2, they have important players especially up front. Important place, important company, there isn’t much difference between us and them.”
APPROACH – “We must not get distorted, there is nothing to manage. We must exploit our peculiarities, we must be resolute, concrete and solid”
MANAGEMENT – “There is no management table linked to men. I will make choices, I haven’t made them yet, although it is clear that I have clear ideas about what we will have to do. Ciciretti, for example, is a recovered player, but he will have to do better than he did before the muscle problems. He’s fine now and I expect more.”
SET-KICKS – “We focused on this aspect. In some moments, however, we exploited them well. On a defensive level we just need more attention and awareness, but it’s not like we’ve made who knows what mistakes. We are perfectly in line with the parameters of all the other teams.”
RESULTS – “Benevento has created a strong identity. Maybe we could have scored a few more points, especially in some games. If we find concreteness and determination, we can go a long way in these playoffs. Within this group there are important qualities and we will have to exploit them. I am confident.”
