Journalist Vittori: “Lazio’s Defensive Phase Will Have to Work Perfectly Against Inter” | OneFootball

Lazio face Inter at the San Siro, a team that is perhaps the strongest in the league, at least what I think. It’s a team that’s also having a good run at this moment because in the last six days it’s the team that has scored the most points. They only lost to Napoli once and then won all the others, including the direct match against Roma at the Olimpico in recent period. It’s a team that gives the idea of being in confidence with their coach, Chivu, after a somewhat traumatic departure post-defeat in the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain, and a bit of a sudden goodbye to Inzaghi, or at least not expected by the Inter fans. Lazio, on the other hand, have had a paradoxical summer, with the block of the market, with their squad in which has remained almost the same as last season, while all the others have strengthened. It’s a very complicated start to the season, as you said, because Sarri’s team has only scored three points in the first four games. In reality, the turnaround has been a bit of a post-derby, because Lazio, since then, in six games, has put together 12 points, an average of two points per game, has closed the defence, because it’s reduced by four in consecutive shifts, and is pulling out what is its identity, which is an identity that will clearly have to strike even at San Siro, but the difficulty is certainly greater, because then, if you want to get results, even a draw would still be an excellent result on the field of the strongest team in the league, it’s clear that the defensive phase has to work perfectly.

First of all, I think the secret is at a very high level, without taking away anything from the work of Marco Baroni last year, who clearly had a totally different conception of the game, but Maurizio Sarri, especially in terms of organization and application, and creating a strong identity in the team, he’s a master of football. He had already shown this to Lazio in his first experience, because then, in the second year with Maurizio Sarri in charge, Lazio came second in the league, even ahead of Inter itself, which at that stage was clearly a very strong team, and that season, in particular, made it to the Champions League final and then lost to Manchester City. In that season, Lazio had 21 clean sheets, which is the record in the history of Biancocelesti, beaten by a legendary goalkeeper like Felice Pulici by Ivan Provedel. And today, we’re seeing that same defensive organization again. The interpreters are not very different, because then the midfielders are the same as before. Romagnoli is still the central defender. The only change concerns Gila instead of Casale, and we can say that given the performance of the Spanish defender, that Lazio has also gained a great deal of quality from this change. It’s clear that the defensive phase, beyond what can be achieved for a short period, Maurizio Sarri said this in a press conference today, that a month can be achieved for everyone, three or six months can be achieved for a few, a year can’t be achieved for anyone. It’s clear that Lazio, if they want to achieve results, if they want to have an important season, in addition to maintaining this defensive solidity, they also need to find the key to be more dangerous on the offensive level.

I think that rather than looking for a player, I think the secret is exactly what we were talking about now, the defensive organisation. If I have to choose one, in this moment I think of the symbol of this extreme Lazio resistance in recent days, I think of the game against Bergamo, in which the Spanish defender, Mario Gila, was also nominated as the best on the pitch and was a great protagonist, especially in the second half when Lazio was suffering. If you allow me, I would also take another one, because he is a player who is not talked about much, because he is a player who does a job, sometimes even obscure, but of great quality and quantity like Danilo Cataldi. Returned to the base after the Fiorentina loan, a player who, we remember, in the year of the second place, was the starting player between Milinkovic-Savic and Luis Alberto in the midfield. Today, Cataldi has exploited the injury of Novella, also in the hope of Cataldi himself, that he can return to the old version of himself after the loan-spell and be able to solve his own problems with the team. Not only has he proven himself to be a reliable player, but above all, he has shown himself to be a strength of this team, not only in the pro-positive football,  but also in the closure of the passing lines.

Having arrived at the top of his game against Verona, Castellanos played poorly against Como, but Como had scored anyways,  he did not do well against Sassuolo, in the derby he entered towards the end, and in any case something was not right with his match against Torino. During the break, the feeling was that with the return of the championship, Castellanos could express himself on other levels. Unfortunately, he suffered a serious injury, a muscle injury that kept him out for more than a month, and now he will return after the  international break. As for Boulaye Dia, he is a player who likes Sarri, he is a quality player, he is a player who has a high speed of execution in the restarts. In my opinion, he has also entered into a psychological crisis, because when an attacker does not continuously find the goal, there are also the arguments of the attackers who live from it, because then the attacker is true, he plays and so on, he is committed, because the willpower and commitment are never lacking. At this moment, in my opinion, the goals are missing. Clearly, playing against an Inter defence, against Bisseck against Akanji, against Bastoni, it will be very complicated, but who knows that the switch for the Senegalese may not come in the game on the most difficult card. Also considering that the player, most likely in November, will be called up for the Africa Cup, in December he will reach his national team, I think that in these days he still wants to redeem himself a little, also to definitely convince his city to focus on him, because then we know how important the Africa Cup is at the world level, it is important for the players, it is important for society, it is important for the football movement. Out-wide, Lazio is still not giving up, because seven goals have come from the wings, for now, as you rightly said, the goals of the central-forwards are missing, who knows that if he can perhaps unlock himself right at San Siro.

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