Academy Corner: Season Recap.

Growth: : the word that best describes the 2023/24 season of Como 1907’s Primavera team, part of the Primavera 2 Group A championship, a team that has undergone changes throughout the season but has always adapted well. Here is how it went.

In the summer of 2023, during the pre-season retreat in Bormio, Cesc Fabregas, the Spanish legend decided to start his coaching career with the young Lariani. A path that stops on 13 November 2023, after three defeats, three victories, all away, and three draws, following his arrival in the first team, as interim coach first and then on Osian Roberts’ staff. A path that cannot be reduced to numbers, however, because the boys’ growth is evident. And this is proven by a roaring January.

After a brief return of Dave Bell, Daniele Buzzegoli joined Como’s Primavera team on January 10, along with some new faces: Fellipe Jack, a Brazilian defender from Palmeiras U17, and Naj Razi, an Irish forward from Shamrock Rovers, who was already in the big leagues. Two important additions to the professional contracts signed by Chinetti and Rispoli, who made his Serie B debut on 13 January 2024 against Spezia, taking over from captain Bellemo.

With Buzzegoli on the bench, the style of play remained the same as Fabregas’s, with a 4-4-2 that relies on speed and vertical movements: two defeats in the first two matches against Alessandria and Renate, then the race resumed, with exciting victories such as the 3-1 at Brescia, the 5-3 against Albinoleffe, the 3-1 against Spal and the near feats against Cremonese and Parma, first and second respectively in the rankings: Como were beaten in the final minutes, with a double 3-2 that left a bitter taste in the mouth.

Now, the numbers: 11 goals for Chinetti, top scorer, then Galafassi and Lipari, both at six, and Fabio Rispoli, with five goals, in only 16 games. Mazzaglia and Restelli kings of assists along with Lipari with four. A young team that never gave up and which has everything to aim for the playoffs next season.