Igli Tare explains Maurizio Sarri was hired so Lazio could ‘break out of our comfort zone’ in Serie A and the Europa League, but warns consistency remains a big problem.
Their Europa League fixture with Olympique Marseille kicks off at 17.45 UK time (16.45 GMT).
“This is one of the reasons why we brought Sarri to Rome. After Simone Inzaghi left, it was our duty to break out of our comfort zone and I hope his arrival can help us make a step up in terms of mentality, results and football,” Tare told Sky Sport Italia.
“We mustn’t make the mistake of evaluating the previous years, because I think Inzaghi did a great job and you saw how the fans greeted him on his return at the weekend.
“Hiring Sarri somewhat transformed our plans, as we changed tactical system and brought in players who know this system like Felipe Anderson, Pedro, Basic and Hysaj.”
Lazio have shown a radical lack of consistency, falling to a 3-0 defeat at Bologna straight after their Europa League win against Lokomotiv Moscow.
“Results make the difference. We who work daily with the team believe in this squad, whereas those in the media judge us on our results.
“I think when this team shows the right mentality, as it did on Saturday, it can have its say in this competition too,” continued Tare.
“We don’t want to see another Bologna. This is a high-quality squad, we saw the statistics from the game with Inter, but we struggled a little in the past too with inconsistency.
“We are trying to get rid of that mentality, as this team must realise every match is faced with the same intensity. We are having meetings both with the squad and individuals, warning we need the same determination from them all.
“It’s ugly to say, but evidently it is needed. We suffered a heavy, bad defeat to Bologna after two great performances, so that must never happen again.”
Luis Alberto is benched for the second big game in a row after he was left out of the win over Inter at the weekend.
“Sarri works with them every day. Luis Alberto and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic are two of the best midfielders in Serie A.
“This is a good way of proving that nothing can be taken for granted, you have to earn your place in the side every week.”