Three Things We Learned From Cagliari vs Lazio: Two Players Must Be Benched | OneFootball

While Antonio Conte once argued that a draw is a half-defeat, Lazio fans might consider it too generous after witnessing their team’s insipid stalemate against Cagliari.

If the Serie A broadcasters were hoping for an action-packed contest in Sardania to light up their Saturday evening program, they obviously weren’t paying too much attention to the Aquile’s performances this season.

Once again, Maurizio Sarri’s men didn’t look like scoring, at least not before the Isolani were reduced to 10 men following Yerry Mina’s dismissal. The Biancocelesti launched a late onslaught, with Danilo Cataldi threatening on two occasions, but that was all she wrote.

So it’s time to discuss three talking points from the uninspiring action at Unipol Domus.

Nicolo Rovella Woes Emblematic of Lazio’s Campaign

While Lazio’s struggles can be attributed to dozens of reasons, Nicolo Rovella’s constant absence is one of the most overlooked. It was only last week that we emphasized just how important it is for the club to have the Regista back in action.

But just when the 24-year-old appeared to be regaining his full fitness following his groin nightmare, he’s now set for another lengthy spell on the sidelines with a fractured collarbone.

Unfortunately for Rovella, his physical struggles perfectly depict Lazio’s miserable campaign, one that never took off the ground, and while it did offer occasional glimmers of hope, they were often dashed in a heartbeat.

Sarri wasn’t exaggerating when describing the season as ‘cursed’.

Nuno Tavares Worthy of a Chance Over Luca Pellegrini

Luca Pellegrini is a hardworking full-back who is absolutely dedicated to the cause of his beloved Lazio. Unfortunately, this is where the positives end. While the Italian isn’t a terrible player by any means, he appears to have his technical limitations, especially in the attacking phase.

On the contrary, Nuno Tavares is a much more efficient left-back going forward, as evidenced by the plethora of assists he produced during the early months of his previous campaign. Needless to say, the Portuguese has committed some costly howlers at the back, making Sarri reluctant to choose him as a starter.

However, if the manager is truly determined to build for the future, the main objective should be developing the club’s more promising players.

At this stage, Tavares is much more likely to emerge as a top-notch full-back than Pellegrini, as he only needs to improve his defensive awareness and refine some of his attacking skills, since he already possesses the pace and crosses to terrify any opponent.

Daniel Maldini Must Be Dropped

While Pellegrini should make way for Tavares, Daniel Maldini must be relieved of his striking duties in favor of whoever is capable of maximizing Lazio’s chances of finding the back of the net. While the stubborn Sarri insists on fielding the Atalanta loanee as a centre-forward, the team’s goal-scoring threat has rapidly plummeted.

In the manager’s defence, he isn’t exactly spoiled for choice, but it is about time Petar Ratkov gets a fair chance. However, Maldini shouldn’t be cast away, but on the contrary, the versatile attacker can be devastating as a super-sub, perhaps emulating Tijjani Noslin, who often provides a timely boost when coming off the bench.