Walter Mazzarri expects a ‘terrible match’ tomorrow evening as Cagliari host Lazio, but he wants his squad to stay attentive.
The Rossoblu have started 2022 incredibly well, dragging themselves out of the relegation zone with important results against Napoli, Atalanta and Torino. They now sit three points ahead of relegation candidates Venezia, who have a match in hand.
Speaking to gathered reporters in a press conference (via LazioNews24) earlier today, the 60-year-old Italian coach first discussed his squad’s mentality as they fight to avoid the drop.
The best medicine to keep everyone motivated is the results we get. When a team does well and shows they deserve to be reconfirmed, everyone trains well, even those who are excluded understand that those who played did well.
Today’s games are played with 16 starters to finish the game, this gives me peace of mind. Anything can happen until 96 minutes and the substitutions are fundamental, those who come in must do better than those who go out.
Mazzarri gave his thoughts on Cagliari’s attack in their recent games and how they can be deployed against Lazio tomorrow.
In general all our forwards did well, I’d like to play three of them together but the team has to take the impact and we need balance. At Empoli I played four while we were losing, we were doing well and I risked everything.
In 90 minutes everyone is a starter, Joao Pedro did very well and he always plays, he’s a leader and a driving force.
The others alternated, Pereiro and also Pavoletti, who helped us win in Turin by coming on. Half an hour done well is as important as those who play 50/60 minutes.
Finally, Mazzarri discussed what kind of match he expects against Lazio tomorrow, how he wants his squad to approach it and how they’ve changed their attitude in recent months.
We come to raise our arms, tomorrow’s match is terrible and we must not change our attitude. We have to face it with a lot of attention because they have higher values than Torino.
Before Udinese I had already spoken with the club, the market was still closed but in our heads there were already the interventions we had to make.
In order to play my football I needed congenial players who were given to me, some things we did and some we didn’t, but the team has changed its attitude.
The team embodies my spirit and my ideas, I knew that with certain choices you would see results with a team that fights together and thinks together.
Lazio have not won a match in almost a month, meaning victory against Cagliari is key tomorrow if they want to restore some confidence ahead of the final stages of the season.
