Maurizio Sarri explains what changed in Luis Alberto to become a key figure at Lazio after the winner against Sampdoria and hails his old club Napoli for their ‘extremely courageous’ approach.
The Biancocelesti needed the victory to get back on track in Serie A and close to within two points of Inter and Milan in second place.
They are currently third, although Roma still have to play Cremonese tomorrow and could leapfrog them with a win.
It was tough going just days after their Conference League play-off draw in Romania with CFR Cluj, as Ciro Immobile and Adam Marusic missed sitters, but Luis Alberto came up with a screamer into the top corner 10 minutes from time.
“It was only to be expected we weren’t at our best, having five or six players who were in Romania on Thursday, and had to force the return of Milinkovic-Savic, Pedro and Zaccagni early from fairly serious problems,” Sarri told Sky Sport Italia and DAZN.
“Apart from a 10-minute wobble at the start of the second half, I liked the team overall. It ended up being a tight win, even though we had eight or nine scoring opportunities.”
Luis Alberto had initially been a square peg in a round hole for Sarri’s 4-3-3 tactics, but has now become integral and even key to the way the midfield works.
“He knows what I want from the team. At a certain point in the season, I saw him training in a completely different way, with a determination I had never seen in him before. By changing the way he trains, he is now having an extraordinary period of form.
“At the start, he struggled to accept what I was asking for, but today Luis Alberto is a very important player for us. He is very intelligent tactically too, when you ask something, he understands quickly what he has to do, even if before he pretended not to understand…”
Lazio will be without suspended Nicolò Casale for the next clash with runaway Serie A leaders Napoli on Friday and it will always be a special game for Sarri after his time there.
“We know Napoli are stronger than we are, but cannot just give up on our philosophy. They are clearly stronger than everyone this season. Over the past year, they have been extremely courageous in their approach, bringing in some unknown young talents. Cristiano Giuntoli is a master at this, but they couldn’t have known these players would be that good.
“I supported Napoli as a child, as I was born there, so that will never change.”