LECCE – Mario Beretta coached Lecce in Serie A in 2008/2009, after his experiences on the benches of Chievo, Parma and Siena and before his adventures at the helm of Turin, Paok Salonicco, Brescia, Cesena and Siena again. In his career, he was the technical coordinator of Milan’s youth sector, while he is currently part of the FIGC federal council representing the Italian Coaches Association. We asked him for his opinion on the season of the Salento club and through which strategies, in 2024/25, the Giallorossi club could achieve a third consecutive stay in the top flight, never achieved until today in its history.
«Lecce set out to save themselves and obtained the expected result – notes Beretta -. This circumstance already tips the scales towards a largely positive year, even more so in a tournament in which the final tussle involved eight teams, including some that seemed destined for a very different path.”
The former Giallorossi trainer completes the picture: «The other note of merit consists of the fact that Lecce remained in Serie A, focusing on a very young team, with several debutants in the Italian top flight and sustaining limited costs. These are elements that give further value to the beautiful feat achieved by the club chaired by Saverio Sticchi Damiani. The same goes for the fact that he obtained arithmetic permanence with three matches to play.”
Beretta highlights another aspect: «The Salento team has always sailed above the relegation zone, having never occupied one of the last three places, not even in the most delicate moments».
Roberto d’Aversa and Luca Gotti took turns on the bench. «I know them both well – claims the 64-year-old coach from Milan -. The first was my footballer in Ternana and Siena. I’m very sorry for the episode that saw him involved in the internal match against Verona. He is a very good person, as well as a serious and prepared professional. The second, he has great humanity and he knows football very well.”
We had the impression that Gotti, with his calm, restored tranquility to a group that was losing self-esteem at the height of a negative cycle: «From the outside it is impossible to give a judgment on this topic. Roberto and Luca undoubtedly have significantly different characters, but they both have great ethics and strong professionalism. Having opted for the change of technical guidance, Lecce’s leaders considered that Gotti was the right trainer. The results achieved proved them right. But D’Aversa’s merits must also be recognised, as his replacement did with elegance and elegance.”
With the Abruzzo coach Federico Baschirotto and his teammates they recorded a sprint start with 11 points obtained in five days, the result of three victories and two draws. So much so that the fans started to dream. “In these cases, the extremely positive aspect is that he puts himself hay in the farmhouse for the phases in which things are bad – he remarks Beretta -. The negative thing is that in the market, expectations are often raised and there are those who lose sight of the fact that a team built to save itself is rarely able to raise the bar enough to be able to aspire to more important goals.”
In a week, once the trip to Naples is over, Lecce will have to lay the foundations for the new season. «The Salento club has two managers who know how to move in the manager of the technical area Pantaleo Corvino and the sporting director Stefano Trinchera – states Beretta -. They don’t need advice. If it were possible to maintain the hard core of the current team I think it would be a good starting point. But I realize that a provincial association cannot remain insensitive to possible important offers for some of its jewels. The economic aspect is as fundamental as the technical one. But whoever is sold will be adequately replaced.” «It would also be an advantage to continue with the same coach – he adds – but, according to what I read, it is very likely that Gotti will stay in Salento».
The firmness of the owners in wanting a Lecce built in the name of sustainability convinces Beretta: «In football, it’s not just money that counts, but also ideas, the ability to find interesting players or even potential talents in markets less followed by the majority of players. operators. Well, from this point of view the Giallorossi club is in excellent hands because Corvino is a master from this point of view and Trinchera supports him wonderfully.”
Like many insiders, Beretta also believes that the outside Patrick Dorgu has very interesting perspectives: «It is a 2004 class that has played its first maximum series tournament with good levels, leaving a large growth margins of growth. At the start of the championship, the tall winger Pontus Almqvist performed brilliantly, dropping off a bit at distance. The Swede is very fast and knows how to disengage well in one-on-one situations: whoever manages to beat the man and guarantee numerical superiority is always very important in a team. But Lecce, having a rather low average age, can count on several young people capable of emerging gradually, through the right path.”
