Sarri finds sluggish Lazio mentality ‘strange’ after jeers

Maurizio Sarri admits Lazio deserved some of the jeers from their own fans after a 1-1 draw with Monza, as it is ‘strange’ they already dissipated the Champions League enthusiasm.

It has been a strange start to the season for the Biancocelesti, who have just four points from the opening five Serie A games, which were earned in a win away to reigning champions Napoli and tonight’s 1-1 draw at home to Monza.

This is the worst start to a season for Lazio in the three points for a win era, equalling the tally set in 2001-02, and they were jeered off the field at the final whistle.

“Up until their equaliser, we were passive and handed the game to our opponents, so at that stage we did deserve the jeers. After that, it opened up and we had our chances too, hitting the woodwork and wasting opportunities with the goalkeeper out of action,” Sarri told Sky Sport Italia.

“Clearly, many things aren’t working well at the moment, but as we said before the match, it is difficult to think we can just emerge from this negative moment quickly. We ought to do more, but we’re struggling at the moment.”

Ciro Immobile broke his goal drought by converting an early penalty for the Patrick Ciurria foul on Mattia Zaccagni, but then Monza created most of the chances, Roberto Gagliardini equalising on 36 minutes, then forcing Ivan Provedel into a tough save and seeing two goals ruled offside.

“The priority is to get a result, as it would boost our enthusiasm and take away some of that anxiety. As for the rest, we need to rediscover our attacking danger, because we continue to create very little for the amount of possession, while we are also not as solid in defence as we were last season.”

If Lazio wanted a sign to kick-start their campaign and boost enthusiasm, should that not have come from goalkeeper Ivan Provedel scoring a last-gasp header in the Champions League to hold Atletico Madrid?

“We did hope it would do that, but playing after the Champions League game is tough for everyone, especially for us because we are not used to it. So the difficulties were to be expected, especially against a good side like Monza, but we still had the option to do better,” confessed Sarri.

“It is strange and we need to evaluate what is not going right in the environment around the team. I think the big problem after certain problems is recovering the mental energy, because there is a significant drop after a big match and it is not easy to recharge the motivation and determination after a couple of days. It must also not be an alibi, because we did everything to qualify for the Champions League, so now we cannot just abandon every match that comes after those fixtures.”

Sarri was noted for his style of football that is all about quick passes, drilled moves and entertainment, but he cannot seem to bring much of that to Lazio and some of it is down to the players signed by the club.

“Every team has its own characteristics. Getting pig-headed only on beautiful football if the team doesn’t have those characteristics would be suicidal. What I want to see from Lazio is more organisation than I am seeing right now.

“If the players are good at certain things and you make them try to do others, obviously it will create problems. If I was to choose, then it would always be for a team that plays spectacular and attacking football, but it cannot always happen.

“I think if there’s something you can complain about now, it is that Lazio do not score as many goals as they ought to for the amount of possession and control.”

New buys Matteo Guendouzi and Gustav Isaksen did get their first starts in the Lazio jersey today.

“They are not ready tactically to play with us, but it is also true that in order to be completely ready, they need to play occasionally,” shrugged the coach.