Stefano Pioli believes his Lazio players “can give more” and insists “we have the ability” to qualify for Europe.
The Biancocelesti finished third last season, but following a 0-0 draw at home to Carpi are currently 10th, 14 points adrift of tomorrow’s opponents Fiorentina, who are third.
“Will we see another Lazio?” Pioli considered in his pre-match Press conference.
Stefano Pioli believes his Lazio players “can give more” and insists “we have the ability” to qualify for Europe.
The Biancocelesti finished third last season, but following a 0-0 draw at home to Carpi are currently 10th, 14 points adrift of tomorrow’s opponents Fiorentina, who are third.
“Will we see another Lazio?” Pioli considered in his pre-match Press conference.
“That’s what I want. We didn’t take our chances against Carpi. Usually I feel better the day after a negative result, this time I found it hard to accept.
“It was an important chance, tomorrow we have another, that’s the beauty of our profession. Tomorrow I want to see a different team. We’ll try to win.
“Right now I feel like those parents whose kids are in school. There are some children who don’t have the capacity, other children are intelligent but the teachers say they can give more.
“I feel like the second example. The season isn’t over, we have the ability to climb the table and play in Europe next year.
“We’re lacking consistency, we’ve never had it apart from a brief period at the start of the season. It’s normal that we’re in this position, because we haven’t always shown our quality.
“There are a lot of games to go though, there’s no use looking back.
“We all want to win, we don’t have time, and expectations are justifiably higher than last year. The season didn’t end on Wednesday, we were coming off two wins and we couldn’t get a third.
“In the second half of the season I expect a lot more, we want to close the first half by showing our ability. We have to get more points to move up the table.
“It’s not a matter of laziness, only once have opponents out-run us and that was against Bologna at the start of the season.
“If you run and win more tackles then you’re not lazy. We have to be less predictable. A Coach has to know when to use the carrot and when to use the stick. I use both.
“I’ve seen a different attitude in the last month.”
Pioli then gave his analysis of the game tomorrow, and knows his side will have to play very well to beat the Viola.
“We’ll have to play well, [Paulo] Sousa is doing a great job. We’ll have to be tight, because the opponent is strong.
“Fiorentina and Inter try to play like we do, but we’ll have to try and limit their possession. We’ll have to be clinical in the last third, not like in the last game.
“Are Fiorentina a surprise? No, because they’re coming off a positive path with [Vincenzo] Montella.
“They’ve always finished in the top positions in the League, and last year they got to the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia and the Europa League.
“Sousa has shaped the team to his ideas, it’s a team with great ability.”
The Aquile completed the signing of Milan Bisevac this week, but the centre-back won’t play from the start tomorrow.
“I’ve got a positive impression from him,” Pioli said.
“Especially from the talk I’ve had with him. He’s clever, I’ve shown him various things on video, and I realised that he’s ready.
“We’ve taken an experienced player. I don’t have any doubts about his personality, but he’s not ready to play from the start, he has to get to know his teammates.”