The defeat suffered at home against Salernitana, added to that of the previous round in Verona, brings Lecce back down to earth. Those who thought of a salvation already in the safe in January will have to change their minds, with the Giallorossi having thrown away two direct clashes through which they could have created an important buffer in the relegation zone anyway. Beyond the issues concerning the starting formations, the changes made by Baroni, the state of form of some players or a squad that does not have a long enough bench at the moment, what worries are the steps backwards made in both phases of the game .
The non-possession stage
Defensively after the match against Salernitana, the Giallorossi coach repeated the term ‹‹lightness›› to explain the defensive mistakes that the team stumbled into in the ninety minutes of the Bentegodi and at the Via del Mare. And, in fact, the four goals conceded are the result of egregious mistakes and forgetfulness which were decisive for the outcome of the two matches. The first goal conceded in Verona came from a change of play made by the Gialloblù which saw Doig receive on the left. Gonzalez parries in front of the Scotsman, who however faces him without keeping the right distance (about an arm) from the adversary, thus leaving the n. 3 from Hellas time and space to send an inviting cross into the area. Depaoli arrives comfortably on this passage from the outside, guiltily left alone by the latecomer Gallo. The second Venetian marking is instead the result of a turnover coming out of Lecce. On which Lecce’s back line remains passive, thus allowing Ilic to pocket for Lazovic who then strikes Falcone at the near post. Selling with the first goal conceded early on Friday, Salernitana’s action was born from a long clearance by Ochoa towards the Piatek buoy: a direct attack system to overcome the high pressure in Salento that Verona itself had put into practice with Djuric and which embarrassed the Salento defense. Lecce fails to win the rebound and, on a new opposing dove, Pezzella rejects the ball centrally, among other things in an area left uncovered by the Apulian midfielders. The ball reaches Dia, with Baschirotto not coming out and with the Senegalese beating Falcone with a good shot. The doubling of the grenade comes with another lost ball coming out of the Lecce side with Oudin who misses twice. In fact, first the Frenchman, pressed by an opponent, bounces the ball off Candreva and then on the carom, from the ground, sets Dia again in motion who then goes to serve Vilhena, author of the second guest score. Basically, what the four goals conceded by Lecce in these last two days of the championship have in common have been the turnovers and errors of judgment by the defenders.
The offensive maneuver
The setbacks in terms of play for Lecce were also seen in the possession phase. In the two games against Verona and Salernitana, Lecce produced more than their opponents in terms of expected goals (2.16 against 1.39) but with an average of just 0.08 xG per shot. In the match against Davide Nicola’s players from Campania, the Giallorossi showed off some good play patterns when they managed to move the ball quickly from the outside areas to the central ones, with good mechanisms in terms of chain exchanges and above all since Strefezza, moved to right, has begun to move towards the central spaces of the field. however, these moments they were alternated with others of poor lucidity in which the team was not fast but frenetic, resorting too often to Baschirotto’s wrong long balls to open the field on the opposite side. Some choices turned out to be wrong both at a tactical level (why Strefezza on the left?) and of the individuals (Oudin, Maleh, Pezzella). Di Francesco has to start as owner right now. Not living in the locker room and not being in the heads of the players we can’t say, from the outside, if any player was somehow overwhelmed by the too much praise received by the team for the good first leg. What is certain however is that Baroni and the club invite the group to pay greater attention to those details that could end up making the difference between a positive conclusion to the season or not.