Maurizio Sarri revealed his fury after the Derby della Capitale defeat and supported Ciro Immobile after Italy’s play-off collapse.
The Biancocelesti are desperate for a win against the Neroverdi this evening as they look to bounce back following the painful 3-0 Derby della Capitale defeat before the recent international break. Italy’s failure to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar means this break wasn’t particularly relaxing for the majority of the squad.
Speaking in a press conference (via La Lazio Siamo Noi) yesterday, Sarri first discussed the state of his team following the international break.
The lads came back yesterday, they only did one training session. I couldn’t find them at their best, the derby has left some scars.
We have to transform them into energy against one of the strongest teams in Italy.
He gave his thoughts on Mattia Zaccagni.
I’d expect a great finish from everyone. We have to redeem ourselves after the derby, not only from the point of view of results but also from the point of view of character.
Sarri discussed his future and the meeting he had with Lazio president Claudio Lotito.
I only saw Lotito yesterday. The aim was to talk to the players, I did that first and then the president.
We played an inexplicable game from an attitude point of view, it was clear that after one minute the game was over.
I’m very p*ssed off with the players and also with myself. I had the feeling that the mood before the derby wasn’t right, I tried to intervene but I didn’t get the results. For me the future is Sassuolo.
He was not concerned about the level of commitment from players who have expiring contracts.
I want to hope to have high-level players available. Professionals know that there are no games that are not worth anything.
I start from this kind of assumption, we have professionals who will give us 100%.
Sarri discussed Lazio star Ciro Immobile, one of the most criticised players following Italy’s World Cup play-off disaster.
I spoke to him straight away. He is becoming a scapegoat for a situation. He mustn’t take it too hard, he must concentrate on Lazio.
I know what he should do, but then it will be up to him to decide. I’m very confident in him.
I would make a type of choice that’s useless for me to say because it’s mine, the one that counts is Immobile’s.
He gave his thoughts on Italy’s failure to qualify for the upcoming World Cup in Qatar.
I always remain of my opinion. The national teams no longer represent a movement of the country. We talk about maximum systems, I’ve heard some monstrous rubbish about the problems of Italian football this week.
Notwithstanding that we are talking about a game, against Macedonia, in which Italy had 35 shots on goal, conceded two, lost and went out. Here, however, we are 30-35 years behind, but nobody talks about structures.
When I talk about the playing fields, they tell me I’m complaining. We have paid for this lack of attention to detail. If you see the Bundesliga on TV, then change the channel and put on a Serie A match, you ask yourself: ‘where the f*ck am I?’
The Lazio coach tried to find the reasons behind the issues.
The tactical aspect has nothing to do with it. The reason is difficult to find, if one of us had been able to find it we would have taken care of the effects.
Lately the team hasn’t been giving signals of this kind, we’ve come on the wrong Sunday. We have to understand if it depends on the characteristics of the players, we certainly have to avoid something like this happening again.
Sarri spoke about midfielder Toma Basic.
We expected him to grow faster. He will be the future of Lazio, I’m sure of that. Then maybe he’ll take a bit more time.
Finally, Sarri discussed Adam Marusic and Manuel Lazzari.
He did all the training, but he’s carrying an old problem that bothers him every now and then. I don’t think he’s in the balance.
Lazzari is getting back to his best, he has already made a couple of appearances.