Maurizio Sarri acknowledges Lazio ‘are struggling to score goals’ after the 1-0 defeat to Bologna and are perhaps missing Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.
The Aquile had won three in a row in Serie A, despite stumbling in the Champions League, but were largely toothless at the Stadio Dall’Ara this evening.
The only goal of the game was scored by Lewis Ferguson on the counter-attack within 40 seconds of the restart, allowing Bologna to leapfrog Lazio in the table.
“It was a good first half and we certainly deserved to be in the lead. We conceded in a rather soft manner, but after 20-30 seconds I cannot say that was caused by our attitude, it is difficult to tell,” Sarri told Sky Sport Italia.
“We reacted in terms of possession and passing, but made little impact in the opposition half.”
It was rather an ill-tempered game with tension at the end, as Lazio had two penalty appeals rejected and hit the woodwork with Luis Alberto directly from the corner flag.
There is a real goal issue for the team at the moment, as Ciro Immobile is off form, Taty Castellanos scored only once, while the wide forwards are not contributing the way they had done last year.
“These are statistics and you have to take those into consideration, reflect on them. We have a similar style of football as last season, so it is difficult to understand why there are such vast differences in the goals from the same players.
“I didn’t see much from Bologna in the second half either. It is evident that we are struggling to turn our good football and possession into goals. After going behind, we got a bit too stretched out and over-eager, so that goal out of nowhere shook us up. We were not vehement enough in attacking their penalty area.”
Milinkovic-Savic could often go into a more advanced role and break down defensive teams, so is the Serbian missed more than perhaps Lazio had realised?
“In certain aspects, clearly he was an important presence, but in terms of our passing we are doing better than last season. In some situations, he is missed,” agreed Sarri.
There is a huge game coming up in the Champions League on Tuesday, as Lazio lost 3-1 away to Feyenoord and now welcome the Dutch side to the Stadio Olimpico.
Once again, the travelling fans are banned from attending due to a history of problems between the sets of supporters.
“It is an opportunity and a risk, because Feyenoord are a very strong team. We always found an infernal atmosphere in Rotterdam and I hope our fans will give them the same treatment at the Olimpico, because we need them.”
Getting tired of Sarri’s moans.If he changed tactics even once i might have sympathy, the days of Barca’s tikky takky are long over.
Whining about his players rather than changing tactics show a bad coach, starting to think we need a different Manager.
Sempre Forza Lazio.