Retegol: How Mateo Retegui Succeeded in His First Season In Serie A Under Alberto Gilardino
It has been nothing short of a breakout campaign for Mateo Retegui. The Argentine-born Italian international throughout his professional career, bleeds the colours of blue and red having spent his youth under both River Plate and Boca Juniors’ systems before securing a move to Boca’s first team.
His big break onto the scene came when he joined Tigre in the early months of 2022, where he joined forces with Diego Martinez’s side. In more than 40 appearances for Los Azules de Norte, he managed to rack up 30 goals which had enhanced his status and shocked scouts of Europe’s very best.
It was approaching the end of his loan spell at Tigre and the start of the summer window where the interest of top Italian teams such as AC Milan and Fiorentina sparked their interest for the forward. Retegui’s strengths manage to outweigh most of his weaknesses and after discussing with Argentinian football specialist, Albert Hilton, he managed to outline what there was to expect with Mateo Retegui and the background to his breakthrough.
He stated: ‘’He grew up very close to Tigre, it was kind of like his childhood club. Before he didn’t do that well on loan but in Tigre, he managed to hit the ground running. In terms of what he brought to the team, he was a strong forward, very quick and ran into the channels. He has really good dribbling for such a physical player and his finishing is excellent.’’
A newly promoted Serie A side managed to convince il Re Tigre to join their side with Alberto Gilardino and Genoa snapping up his signature on a lengthy 5 year contract. The rest is history for Retegui as his break into European football started right there and with call-ups to the National Team for Gli Azzurri during his time with Tigre, things were looking bright for the future of the Argentine-born marksman Mateo Retegui.
His campaign kickstarted with a Serie A debut against Vincenzo Italiano’s Fiorentina, a game which saw the newly promoted side suffer a heavy defeat, conceding 4 goals in the Stadio Luigi Ferraris. Gilardino made sure that Retegui was acclimatising to life in Italy and getting used to the style of play the Piemonte-born manager wanted to deploy.
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He tried to adopt a similar style to what he used last season with his patient build-up in the attacking phases and use the midfield players to be the pivotal point of attack. One thing Genoa excelled on throughout the season was the introduction of players such as Morten Frendrup and Albert Gudmundsson who combined for a total of 25 goal contributions for Il Grifone this season alongside Retegui’s ruthlessness in front of goal.
Gilardino used the most of Retegui’s strengths by playing him alongside a second striker which allowed him to freely roam in the attacking third. An away trip to the illustrious Stadio Olimpico saw underdogs Genoa take home all the points with Mateo Retegui getting his first goal in the Italian top flight and the first of many.
The Italian international looked to make his name even more of a presence and did so in fashion against the Scudetto-winning side Napoli, a goal for the Argentine-born marksman in a stadium where one Argentine stands above them all in the name of Diego Armando Maradona.
A shock last minute loss to the Salento side Lecce left Genoa frustrated by their performance however knew they had to bounce back in their home, nella Città della Lanterna, in an enticing matchup against Jose Mourinho’s Roma. Genoa managed to gather 3 points against one Roman side so far with an away win against Lazio and looked to go into this game taking down I Giallorossi.
A game which Alberto Gilardino looked at as a tall order turned into a sense of overachievement with a 4-1 win with a goal scored by their main man up top. A game defined a masterclass by the Genoa faithful as all the star players, Retegui, Gudmundsson and Frendrup showed up in a mauling victory as the Grifone defeated the Gladiator from Rome.
A 2-2 draw next game against an underwhelming Udinese saw marksman Mateo Retegui pulling the strings from the helm, providing an assist in the four goal game. Retegui had been at the forefront of the headlines, playing a pivotal role in the side, pulling in key passes, looking to create different options with his aggressive build-up play and making darting runs centrally and into the channels, aiming to wreak havoc on defenders.
The Genoa forward’s form seemed to scamper however Il Grifone were gathering points here with draws against Inzaghi’s Inter and Motta’s Bologna. Winter break passed by and Retegui managed to score a goal which was a kickstarter for Gilardino’s men to push for an away win against relegation-struggling Salernitana, to where Albert Gudmundsson dispatched the winning penalty from the spot to secure the 3 points for Genoa.
Mateo Retegui then came into his prolific self grabbing a goal and an assist against Roberto D’Aversa’s Lecce. The marksman made movements which emulated the likes of a young Luca Toni going through the ranks at Palermo and forward play and finishing which mimicked the movements of a mature Gonzalo Higuain and his time at Napoli.
Il Re Tigre had helped Genoa push on to secure their position for safety in a demanding season for a team which has been newly promoted. Despite there being a lack of goals, Retegui’s robustness and attitude to thrive and develop his game caught the attention of Gli Azzurri, the Italian National Team and Luciano Spalletti took the brave decision to bring him along to the National Team’s stint of international friendlies in the US.
A stellar showing from the Argentine sniper led Italy to a 2-0 win against Salomon Rondon and Venezuela, with both goals scored by Mateo Retegui who managed a perfect performance up front playing as the solo striker in a new look Italian side. Following his breakthrough performances in the US, it was full focus back to the domestic campaign with Gilardino and Genoa as they saw back-to-back draws against Eusebio Di Francesco’s Frosinone and Vincenzo Italiano’s Fiorentina.
Gilardino’s men amassed 10 goals in their next 5 games including an important 3-3 draw against I Rossoneri di Pioli and a 3-0 win against I Rossoblu di Ranieri with Retegui missing the action following a sprain in a home game against Frosinone. The return from injury was imminent for the Italian international but despite the lack of playing time, the Tuscan-born manager, Spalletti managed to show full faith in the forward, inserting Retegui as a weapon, part of Gli Azzurri’s attacking arsenal with their pre EURO 2024 friendlies against Turkey and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Il Re Tigre concluded the domestic campaign with 7 goals and 2 assists in just under 30 matches. A season which Gilardino described as a continued growth for the forward and with practice, Genoa can craft their perfect striker. Nella città della lanterna, c’è un nuovo guardiano del faro.
By: Lorenzo Gagliotta / @LG24Sports
Featured Image: @GabFoligno / James Baylis – AMA / Getty Images