Angelozzi's safety: «Di Francesco top, Lecce has chosen well»

He worked with Eusebio Di Francesco for three seasons, the sporting director Guido Angelozzi. He collaborated with the Pescara trainer in Sassuolo, in 2015/2016 and 2016/2017, while in 2023/2024 he wanted him on the bench of Frosinone. The manager from Catania, who was in the Lecce team from 2005/2006 to the first days of the 2009/2010 season (until the assignment of the role of coach-manager to Gigi De Canio), therefore knows the new coach of the Salento team very well.

"I have a lot of respect for Di Francesco," Angelozzi began. "When I was hired by Sassuolo in 2015/2016, he had already been leading the Neroverdi for three seasons, including the first, which coincided with the historic promotion to Serie A of the Emilian team. We played a top-notch championship, with a team that included many young players and that played fun and effective football. We finished sixth, obtaining the pass for the Europa League."

In 2016/2017, Sassuolo placed twelfth: "We were conditioned by the double commitment, which is always heavy, especially for those teams that are not used to it. In Serie A we were not as brilliant as in the previous year, but we did not demerit. In the Europa League, however, we gave ourselves great satisfaction, beating Lucerne, Red Star Belgrade and Athletic Bilbao 3-0. People continued to talk about the black-green eleven as a team capable of achieving results through play. Di Francesco launched players of the caliber of Lorenzo Pellegrini, Stefano Sensi, Matteo Politano, Pol Lirola, Domenico Berardi".

Angelozzi focuses on the work that the Abruzzo trainer carries out with the new generation: «He knows how to help young people grow both technically and tactically. He manages to transmit his desire to try to play his cards against anyone. His formations are not defeatist. All this creates enthusiasm».

The Europa League season was Di Francesco's last at Sassuolo: "It was inevitable that he would attract the attention of a big club and so he moved to Roma, doing very well in the capital too, finishing third in the league and leading the Giallorossi to the Champions League semi-final, eliminating Barcelona in the quarter-finals. In short, he achieved two excellent results."

Angelozzi and Di Francesco's paths crossed again in 2023/2024: "As the head of the technical area of ​​Frosinone, I immediately thought of him and I was right, despite the fact that we were relegated on the last day, as some teams let up a bit. But we fielded the youngest team in Europe in a top-tier tournament, a team that showed off good quality football on all pitches and against all rivals. Even in Ciociaria, Eusebio launched numerous young players and most of them performed well in the top division in the past season and are destined to continue to grow in their new clubs."

In 2025/2026, Di Francesco will coach Lecce: «Corvino knows football and Serie A like few others. He knows how to choose coaches and players. The Salento club is solid, organised and has clear ideas about the path to take. In short, the right environment to allow him to work well. For a club that aims to maintain the category, but also to enhance young players to then sell them and balance the books on those capital gains that are lifeblood, the Pescara coach is a significant resource».

Di Francesco will return to Lecce after the experience, which culminated in his dismissal, in 2011. He will therefore have the opportunity to take revenge: «I don't think he will approach the new adventure with this idea. It is a professional commitment that certainly excites him a lot and in which he is keen to give his best and do well. With him, among other things, the athletic trainer Massimo Neri will also return to Salento, who has collaborated with the Giallorossi club since the beginning of his career. He is another exemplary professional, who knows how to do his job well and who has been part of the staff of the trainer from Abruzzo for two years».