In the aftermath of Lecce’s loss against Genoa, coach D’Aversa shared his thoughts on the team’s decline after a promising first half: “The only obligation is to try to win, as we did today, avoiding mistakes.” The Giallorossi started the match in dominant fashion, creating nearly all the chances in the first half, but lapses in concentration in the final 20 minutes cost them dearly, as D’Aversa explained in the post-match:
“The only obligation is to try to win, as we did today, avoiding mistakes. We had the opportunity for 2-0 with Sansone, and in Serie A, I can’t remember a team that has troubled Genoa, who have caused problems for the top teams. We can’t afford lapses, and we can’t afford not to capitalize on the volume of play. We won all the duels until the 65th minute, and then we stopped playing. In Serie A, it leads you to not win. In recent games, the performances have been there, and we will try to improve aspects to avoid losing matches.”
Responding firmly about Gabriel Strefezza, D’Aversa stated: “After a game we lose, it doesn’t seem appropriate to talk about a player who made his choice. In the championship won in Serie B, he was instrumental, last year too. Despite some writing that he played little, I reiterate that numbers are numbers. I can tell you that Strefezza, after Krstovic, played more than anyone. Let’s think about who remained here.”
The lack of reaction is Lecce’s critical issue: “Against Juventus, we had balance for 60 minutes, today for 60-65 minutes, only one team played. We made several mistakes in front of the goal, and in Serie A, if you don’t capitalize and don’t sense danger, it leads to not winning. Today, we troubled Genoa, and at that moment, you have to kill, sports-speaking. The second goal, we played backward instead of playing forward a free-kick. We felt little danger because we won every duel until the goal, and we find ourselves commenting on a defeat after an excellent performance. But I don’t want us to get used to losing. At least on the duels, we have to win them throughout the game, then to earn points; a team fighting relegation needs those.”
Genoa could only strike from a moving ball. Pongracic’s foul on Ekuban weighed heavily: “If we call it a detail, the detail needs to be taken care of. Pongracic is true; he made a naivety, but the way he and Baschirotto played allowed us to be aggressive. These are small mistakes that in Serie A are decisive. If they score on that situation, the performance is nullified, but a coach cannot condemn a player for a foul where then you see the quality of others in placing the ball in the top corner. We need to think about the lost duels after the goal. Those must be won. I mean even a shot on goal and defending the goal.”
The reading was missing in the second half: “It wasn’t a lack of intensity; it lacked more of a mental aspect. Strootman and Malinovskyi are technical, and if you don’t put them in difficulty, their characteristics come out. We can talk for hours, but in this sport, the one who scores wins. I don’t remember chances except for a shot where Falcone did well, but the one who scores wins, and we weren’t good at scoring the second and defending after Krstovic’s goal.”
Krstovic’s return to scoring symbolizes unity, but D’Aversa needs to improve: “The striker lives for the goal, and it wasn’t easy for him to stay in the game after the missed penalty. I didn’t want to risk the second yellow, after many criticisms of the referees, I say that today Pairetto had a good performance. I’m not worried; let’s focus on the goal and improve the negative aspects. It’s up to me to improve the negative aspect. If we’re commenting on excellent performances where we pay for the slightest mistake and ruin everything, I say we need to improve. The aspect of experience needs to be accelerated, regardless of the value of the opposing teams; we need to rediscover our determination.”
