Former coach Rossi: «Di Francesco can relaunch himself in Lecce. Trust in Camarda»

Eusebio Di Francesco's new adventure on the Lecce bench officially began on Thursday. Furthermore, the official announcement of the signing of baby-bomber Francesco Camarda from Milan is also expected shortly, informally confirmed by Rossoneri sporting director Igli Tare.

"The Pescara trainer's choice is a counter-trend, it cannot be defined otherwise if we consider that Di Francesco is coming off two consecutive relegations, first at the helm of Frosinone and then of Venezia - says Delio Rossi, who coached Lecce in the second part of the 2001/2002 season, taking over from Alberto Cavasin, and then in 2002/2003, with the promotion to Serie A, and in 2003/2004, with the salvation -. But Corvino is a manager who does not limit himself to reading the results obtained, as he evaluates above all the work done. In addition to relaunching the players, he has repeatedly shown that he knows how to do it with the coaches too. He accompanies them, he is close to them, he supports them, he stimulates their pride, their desire to do more and better".

By getting 17-year-old centre-forward Francesco Camarda on loan from Milan, Lecce bet on the talent of the young Rossoneri player and took on the task of launching him into the football that counts. The boy made his debut at a very young age in the top flight and in the Champions League, but it is one thing to play bits of matches and quite another to play with a certain continuity in Serie A.

Throughout its history, the Giallorossi club has often managed to develop talents that have blossomed in its youth sector, the latest of which was Patrik Dorgu, sold in January to Manchester United with a substantial capital gain.

In the past, in the early 2000s, the Giallorossi club, always with Pantaleo Corvino as head of the technical area, did the same with a brood that included, among others, Valeri Bojinov, Mirko Vucinic, Cristian Ledesma, Axel Konan, Erminio Rullo. Now the Salento club will try to repeat itself with Camarda, a product of Milan, on whom they will have the right of redemption, with the Milanese who can count on the counter-redemption.

In 2002/2003 and especially in 2003/2004, Delio Rossi launched several youngsters in Lecce as a coach, even though some of the boys in question had already made their debut in 2001/2002. «The situation, compared to my time, is quite different - Rossi specifies -. At the time, after the relegation in 2001/2002, the club decided to sell all the most prominent players or those with high salaries. So, alongside some veterans of Serie A, we promoted numerous boys who had stood out in the Primavera. We launched several of them and with almost all of them Lecce obtained significant capital gains, as they were all owned by the club. With Camarda it's different. He grew up in Milan and is destined to return, as declared by sporting director Tare in recent days. The Giallorossi club will undoubtedly have advantages, including economic ones, but it will not be able to produce a capital gain in the classic sense of the term».

Young people need to be put in the right conditions to give their best and Delio Rossi has shown he knows how to do it: "For them to make progress, it is not enough that they have quality. Something else is needed. The coach has the task of making them improve, in every aspect, including that of maturing as men, of making them understand that he has faith in them and above all of identifying the right moment to throw them into the fray with continuity, supporting them after a negative performance or keeping them with their feet on the ground when things are going swimmingly. A boy, by nature, would like to break the world, he would like everything immediately, but he must be managed with care".

The coach from Rimini tells an anecdote: «In Palermo, president Zamparini often asked me, at the beginning, why I didn't play the Argentine Javier Pastore and the Uruguayan Abel Hernandez, two young players in whom the rosanero club had invested a lot. I answered him that they had to be patient, that their time would come and that they would do very well. That's how it was and subsequently the Sicilian club was able to put some important capital gains in the balance sheet».

Lecce fans hope that Camarda will show, in Salento, all the talent and the instinct for goal that he is credited with: «That he has talent is undeniable, as he has scored many goals in all the teams he has played for, including national teams. I am convinced that Corvino and the Giallorossi environment will be able to help him grow in all aspects. The way in which he will approach this new experience will be very important to him. He will have to do it with the utmost humility and with the awareness that Lecce, while fighting for permanence, is a great place. But from this point of view I cannot express any opinion as I do not know the young man who grew up in Milan in terms of maturity and character».