Maurizio Sarri called for his Lazio side to bounce back from their poor form against Celtic, wanting his players to ‘respond not in words, but on the pitch’.
The Biancocelesti again slumped to a disappointing result on the weekend, falling to Serie A strugglers Salernitana in a 2-1 defeat, the Granata’s first victory of the campaign. Fans have started to lose faith in the coach, who has struggled to get the team in rhythm this term.
Lazio have looked more positive in the Champions League and can book their spot in the Round of 16 of the competition should they beat Celtic and Atletico Madrid beat Feyenoord, pilling on the pressure ahead of their clash on Tuesday evening.
Speaking in a press conference via TMW, Sarri first discussed what signals he received from his Lazio squad after the loss to Salernitana.
“I don’t want to have signals now, but tomorrow. We lost a match due to superficiality, due to lack of determination, in a bad way. So, the team must respond not in words, but on the pitch.
“I said what I had to say yesterday, now we need to regroup without going any further, hoping that the Champions League atmosphere will give us something more.”
He was asked if the club’s management intervened after the defeat.
“The director did it, in a very tough way. I’m happy about this, it was needed in my opinion.”
The Lazio coach commented on if the old guard can help turn things around.
“Now there is no longer the old guard and the new. We need to reset. It’s useless to talk about tactics, when a team enters the pitch less decisive than the other, they don’t win. Tactics can help, but they are not enough.”
Sarri was asked if Lazio should change tactics considering their predictability.
“Barcelona dominated for ten years by always playing the same way. This is bar talk that doesn’t interest me.”
He spoke about if there were any signs of the coming issues during the pre-season retreat.
“The retreat was done at good levels. Something changed afterwards, during the summer the atmosphere was of an excellent level.”
He touched on the qualities of Celtic.
“They have decent technical qualities, they play at a very high pace. They’re not an easy team to face. The two away defeats were conditioned by a double numerical inferiority. It will be a complicated match tomorrow.”
The Lazio coach spoke about the team’s mentality issues against provincial sides.
“The mentality depends on 2000 factors, not just on the coach’s words. Most likely on an environmental level something transmits little, here is the problem given that players and coaches have changed.”
Finally, Sarri provided an update on the health of his Lazio squad.
“Zaccagni, Romagnoli and Casale, who is improving, are all out. Rovella is better. Let’s see today and then take stock.”
Sarri won’t change his failing tactics because “Barcelona dominated for ten years by always playing the same way.” !
Wow! The guy is deluded if he thinks this Lazio are that Barcelona!
And on top of that he keeps starting an invisible Immobile and awol Anderson!
Time to go
SSL Sempre!