Monastir's defeat against league leaders Sarnese was a heavy and painful one, with the Campania team further extending its lead in the standings to 26 points, leaving Monastir in third place behind Trastevere Roma and tied with Albalonga and Campagnano, both on 17 points. Monastir's defeat on Sunday was decidedly unexpected in terms of numbers: a 2-5 defeat in front of their home crowd. After the match, Monastir's coach himself analyzed the match, analyzing the mistakes made: "We should have approached it better. The defeat is understandable. Conceding fourteen goals in the last four games is unacceptable. It's unacceptable to approach a match of this caliber in this way, because we had the privilege of carving out a match against such a strong team while being close in the standings, which is a lot for us. I know that expectations have probably risen a bit here in Monastir, because naturally, people expect us to play a championship that could be considered a high-ranking one. As I said, we had the privilege of playing while being close in the standings, and as a result, we threw away this form a little, with an attitude unworthy of a match of this level, against such a strong opponent who punishes you for the first mistake, and the second too. What a mistake, in quotation marks, because they had a masterfully prepared combination and several situations in their favor in the second half. We were naively reduced to ten men. We conceded a goal from a throw-in, which came in the box, and we conceded. We conceded the fourth goal by making the same mistake we had made before. This defeat certainly leaves us with many areas to work on, a lot of material that will lead us to have an intense week of work to prepare for the next matchday, Saturday, November 14th.
The final 15 minutes of the match were undoubtedly the most heated of the entire 90 minutes. And it was precisely in those final 15 minutes that Monastir seemed to have found the right response to at least snatch a draw, thanks in part to Alberto Leone's brace.
But how did Angheleddu cope with those moments? "Leone's brace gave us a bit of energy, that extra push. It definitely gave us a boost of self-confidence and a significant boost, but unfortunately it was all in vain because our opponents immediately put us right after the next mistake. I'm happy for him, though, because numbers always do us good. These are guys who, as we always say, we need to make protagonists in this category, also to give them the chance to aspire to something more." Looking back on Monastir's performance against Sarnese, the blue-and-white coach explained how, despite the defeat and a less-than-perfect approach, there was still something to be salvaged and how injury-related absences cannot be an excuse: "There was a moment when we had good ball possession, but the game is made up of many situations and we need to analyze them all. Regarding the absences... In moments like these, we need to work with the material we have. We're used to doing this, because if I were to cling to these excuses, I'd have so many to list that I think this interview would take two days. When a player is missing, another has to play in his place. We know we can't have three players for each position. We have to work on adapting other players and do a good job. We didn't do that today." What was particularly striking, throughout these eleven matchdays but especially in the last match played, was Mario Corcione's versatility. The 2001-born player started out as a midfielder but, during these first league matches, he has often also played as a central defender. And it is precisely from this point that Angheleddu's thinking developed: "Yesterday Corcione dropped deep to build because they played a 3-5-2 to create a three-on-two with their attackers and attract their full-backs against our full-backs. To counter them, we dropped Mario (Corcione, ed.) to build with the right defender and the left defender, so that they could bring out their strikers. Unfortunately, our game fell apart, our dribbling was a bit slower, and the opponent was very strong. It's true that we have to focus on ourselves, but it's also true that we have to be able to recognize our own level and that of our opponent, who was clearly superior today, and we have to accept this condition. This is a very important message because it helps us grow." In closing, the coach focused on the match against Afragolese, scheduled as the first match of the twelfth round, on Saturday, November 14th at 2 pm: "Against Afragolese, it will be tough, like all the games. Every game is very difficult. We are fourth in the standings, three points from the sixth-last place, and the group, in my opinion, is very balanced. Leaving aside the top-seeded team, which, in my opinion, is a very strong team, structured to win and has nothing to do with this category. The away match in Afragola will be a tough one, like all the other matches, because right now the league is very level and anything can happen.
