Igor Tudor hints he was not expecting Luis Alberto to announce his Lazio exit and urges the players to ‘bring the fans back over to our side’ after today’s protests.
It was a very strange atmosphere at the Stadio Olimpico following the painful Derby della Capitale defeat to rivals Roma.
The ultras were jeering the players all the way through the warm-ups, then again after every goal in this 4-1 victory over rock bottom Salernitana and at the final whistle.
There was also a banner in the Curva Nord that read: ‘You are not worthy to wear OUR shirt’ with the numbers of those who played against Roma.
“It was not an easy situation and I thank the lads for a great victory, I think we could’ve scored another three or four goals,” Tudor told DAZN.
“When we went into the break, I told them that the objective was to not concede any more goals. It might seem easy on paper, but Salernitana mirrored our system, they were physically strong.
“It is now up to us to bring the fans back over to our side.”
There was another shock straight after the final whistle when Luis Alberto told DAZN live on television that he has asked Lazio to terminate his contract and let him leave, as he will “certainly not be part of the project for next season.”
It is not clear whether the midfielder warned the club that he was going to announce this, but Tudor’s reaction would suggest it was not planned.
“I don’t want to comment on that. It is between him and the club. He had a good game, I am pleased with his performance today. These are things we discuss within the club, not outside.”
It has been a difficult start for Tudor, who took over after Maurizio Sarri tended his resignation, as he beat Juventus 1-0 in Serie A, then lost the first leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final to the same opponent before the derby debacle.
“We are on the right track. Our first games were against Juve and Roma, the Roma that had a great performance yesterday and deserved their victory away to Milan.
“We want a mix between possession and seeking the space. I had always wanted to use Felipe Anderson in the attacking trio, he can play several different roles, but we had to make a change when Mattia Zaccagni got injured.”
Manuel Lazzari confessed to DAZN during the half-time interview that it was the first time in his entire football career that he had been made to play as a left-back. How did Tudor convince him?
“I didn’t need to convince him, he liked it from the first training session. Besides, he is not played out of position, when you are a wing-back, you can play on the right or left. I had Darko Lazovic at Verona who played on the opposite side too.”
With the new expanded tournament, fifth place in Serie A will probably be enough to qualify for the Champions League, so can Lazio still have hope?
“I am taking it one game at a time, we won two in Serie A and lost one. We need to keep going, improve and see where it takes us.”