Maurizio Sarri feels Lazio mistakes played into Juventus hands, allowing them to ‘defend even deeper’ and go on the counter-attack, and explains why he’s too angry to watch the World Cup.
The Aquile have slipped down the standings from joint second place alongside Milan to joint fourth with Inter thanks to this 3-0 defeat in Turin.
Moise Kean took advantage of Ivan Provedel rushing off his line to break the deadlock with a lob, then was ready for the rebound after Filip Kostic’s angled drive was parried.
Arkadiusz Milik sealed it late on from a Federico Chiesa assist.
“It was probably the opener that changed everything, as we hadn’t run any risks in the first 40 minutes and were in control, so it was a turning point,” Sarri told DAZN.
“When you lose the ball inside your own half or in the centre-circle, that is the only way we’re going to struggle, as we never had problems on their long ball game.
“Attacking a team that sits back in its own final third when we don’t have a centre-forward is then complicated. I won’t say Juve didn’t deserve to win, but 3-0 is a very harsh result.
“We have to take responsibility, because the third goal too was a fairly banal ball lost when playing out from defence.
“The sensation I got from the first goal was that we were a bit too spread out.”
Missing Ciro Immobile, Mattia Zaccagni and Manuel Lazzari, the best chances were in stoppages with Matias Vecino clipping the bar and Wojciech Szczesny palming a Felipe Anderson strike out of the top corner.
“Juve always defend fairly deep, to be honest, so I had no doubts they would then go even deeper once they took the lead. My only doubts were over which strikers they would start, but the general approach was what we expected.”
Sarri sticks to his 4-3-3 formation, so was asked if he could make some adjustments and plan different tactical options going forward.
“I don’t generally like having a Plan A, B and C. I like to have a plan and carry it through. There can be small variations depending on how the game goes.”
Lazio started the weekend in joint second place, but are now joint fourth with Inter after this defeat.
“Right now we are in a Champions League position, so we are doing very well. Naturally, when we are missing three or four players, it’s a bigger blow to us than for other teams near the top of the table.
“We are fairly satisfied with the season so far. Clearly, we mustn’t rest on our laurels, I still think we can improve, as we cannot lose a game like this with two of our own errors after 40 minutes of zero chances.
“We are pleased with what we achieved, but also aiming to look towards the future and stepping up a level.”
Sarri has been very vocal in his complaints about the World Cup being staged in Qatar, meaning it had to be moved to November and shift all the domestic calendar around it.
“I think everyone is running out of steam, with many players in the treatment room, due to the madness of the fixture list this season. I think the break is good for everyone.
“I won’t even watch the World Cup, as I am so irritated at the mess they made of the fixture list to play in Qatar.”
Serie A resumes on January 4, but the coach is not expecting any reinforcements mid-season at the Stadio Olimpico.
“Looking at previous years, Lazio generally don’t make big changes in January, and often don’t make any changes. I will speak to the club, but historically it’s not something Lazio tend to do mid-season.”
good win, but honestly i dont understand how lazio conceded the 2 goals, really lazy in possesion, i can understand the 3rd goal.
scoreline was flattering to be fair