Promoted coach Mauro Lustrinelli sensationally coached FC Thun to the top of the Super League. The Ticino native also finds the right recipe in the kitchen. Lustrinelli invites blue Sport to his home, serves risotto with luganighe, accompanied by a glass of Merlot and homemade tiramisu.
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- Mauro Lustrinelli, successful coach of FC Thun, welcomes blue Sport to his home for lunch and delights them with his home-cooked risotto based on a family recipe.
- The former international compares cooking to the coaching profession: success comes from the interplay of quality, timing and team spirit, not from individual stars.
- He has set ambitious goals with the promoted team, which is currently surprisingly leading the table with a six-point lead - a result that matches his desired "wow feeling".
You can tell that Mauro Lustrinelli is regularly in the kitchen. His every move is perfect. The successful FC Thun coach is relaxed and easy-going, even though blue Sport is standing in his kitchen with three people looking over his shoulders as he cooks. "I cook a lot," he says, "it's a good way to switch off."
Lustrinelli has invited blue Sport to his home for lunch in the Bernese Oberland. A home game is also on the plate. As befits a Ticino native, he serves risotto with luganighe with a good glass of red wine. We learn quickly. Anyone who simply refers to luganighe (a spicy Ticino sausage specialty) as sausage will be reprimanded in the Lustrinelli kitchen.
"Everyone loves my risotto"
Lustrinelli's great pride and joy, however, is his risotto. "Everyone who has tried it so far has loved it," he says and laughs. "I hope you'll like it too." First of all: his risotto is excellent. As is the homemade tiramisu, which he will serve later for dessert.
You can tell that Lustrinelli loves to cook, he always has, even as a player. He makes his risotto according to a family recipe with red wine. Of course, the quality of the ingredients is important, he says. "The better the red wine, the better the risotto." But not only that. Timing and method of preparation are also important, he says. "How much red wine do I add, when do I mix in saffron, when butter."
"A red wine for 1000 francs doesn't make a good menu"
Lustrinelli sees many parallels between a chef and a football coach. "A thousand francs' worth of red wine doesn't make a good menu, it's the interplay of ingredients, the mix between a solid base and creativity that makes it. It's like a team: an expensive superstar doesn't make a successful team."
The former national team striker has found the recipe for success in the kitchen - the chef's apron suits Lustrinelli perfectly, by the way. Just like the recipe for coaching a blatant outsider to the top. Staying up there is likely to be even more difficult; nobody underestimates him and his Thun team anymore. "It won't get any easier, but it will be more exciting. It's a daily challenge," says Lustrinelli. One that he seems to enjoy.
"It's important for me to have a wow feeling"
Even before the first game of the season, he set himself the target of finishing in the top six and not, as is usual for a promoted team, a non-relegation place. In doing so, Lustrinelli himself created a lot of pressure. "It was important for me to have that wow feeling. Not being relegated would not have been a wow feeling for us."
"Wow" is currently FC Thun's six-point lead over second-placed YB despite the unfortunate defeat against Lugano last time out. And the lunch at home with the successful coach was also "wow".
