Gotti: ‘Lecce lost honourably to Napoli, but…’

Luca Gotti believes the attitude shown against leaders Napoli today can show Lecce are leaving the crisis behind them, but he still ‘cannot be happy with losing honourably.’

The Salentini have been struggling very badly this season, managing three draws and four consecutive defeats, but they made it tougher than many expected for the leaders this afternoon.

They only capitulated to Giovanni Di Lorenzo’s goal on the rebound at the 73^rd minute, after his first had been disallowed for an offside position.

“I saw a solid team, both in football terms and in the desire to react to the situation that has been created. We want to emerge from this moment well and quickly,” Gotti told DAZN.

Lameck Banda was a constant threat down the left flank, getting both Di Lorenzo and Cyril Ngonge booked.

“This is one of the few times I’ve had Banda available with decent fitness. I actually kept him on 10 minutes longer than he could manage today, but if he’s fit then it goes without saying he’s in the starting line-up,” assured Gotti.

“During this period of the campaign, we have really struggled to convert our scoring opportunities and having Banda back should help, as we wanted to cause problems for Napoli on the counter.”

Gotti acknowledges Lecce’s biggest problem

It is no mystery where Lecce are having the most problems this season, because they have scored only three goals in nine Serie A rounds and it has certainly not been for the lack of opportunities. What can they do to improve this situation?

“Precision is certainly an issue, but I hope that it was just a negative period where we got shaken by issues and paid a heavy price against Fiorentina. We tried to put ourselves on the right track today,” continued Gotti.

“I have too many Serie A games under my belt to be happy with losing honourably. Obviously, it’s very different to last week against Fiorentina and I will take the attitude of the team, both and after Napoli scored, as we tried to react and get the game back on level terms.

“It can only be valuable if we can show consistency and keep that going in future.”

On Tuesday evening, Lecce face Hellas Verona in a relegation dogfight to start the Serie A midweek round.