Maurizio Sarri was unimpressed with his Lazio side’s defensive performance in their lethargic 3-1 loss to Salernitana.
The Biancocelesti did not play with their usual confidence and fast-flowing skills, looking tired and uninspiring despite their initial advantage. Mattia Zaccagni put Lazio ahead just before half time following a lovely pass from Luis Alberto, but they couldn’t build from this foundation and suffered a comeback in the second half, with goals from Antonio Candreva, Federico Fazio and Boulaye Dia.
Speaking in a press conference (via La Lazio Siamo Noi), Sarri first gave his thoughts on the yellow card shown to Milinkovic-Savic, ruling him out of the upcoming Derby della Capitale.
I have no explanation. A player who is in possession of the ball cannot be booked but neither can a foul be called. The opponent did not touch the ball.
In fifty years of football I have never seen such an episode. They even told me they were looking at VAR even though there were no grounds for a red.
Bad faith? If I speak they’ll give me a six-month ban. That’s all I’m saying.
He commented on the current condition of talismanic striker Ciro Immobile, who is currently out with a hamstring injury.
I don’t know, I know he has a check-up. And we’ll understand better, we’ll draw conclusions. But let’s talk about the game and the faults we have on this match.
The 63-year-old Italian coach reacted to Lazio’s performance in the defeat to Salernitana.
I saw a player put his hands on the referee without being disqualified, we just need the same treatment, even less.
We played a good game until the 1-1, we were so much in control that the last thing the team expected was to concede.
At that point the reaction was nervous, not as a team. That made us lose all the balance, it had taken us a year to get it right.
The fans are a spectacle, I’m sorry the game turned out like this for them. Keeping the Olimpico full like this is a spectacle, but we have to deserve it.
Sarri spoke about Lazio’s defensive issues against the Granata.
At one point they were on the pitch like 11 dice rolled at random. The reason is the disjointed reaction, everyone wanted to solve it on their own.
The central defenders had nothing to do with it. The balance was lost because of a moment, you have to remain orderly, tight, compact.
There was still half an hour, we could put the game back in order. The mentality was not ready to suffer a negative moment, the match seemed completely under control.
He explained why he decided to leave Milinkovic-Savic on the bench and if it was related to either his possible disqualification or the number of minutes he’s played recently.
A bit of both. He came from 90 minutes in a row, there was this aspect of the booking. If I went back I would play him from the start.
When you want to manage these things, you always get a mess. I’d rarely made choices like that, but the derby gets into your soul a bit. Thinking about it now, I would do it differently.
Finally, Sarri discussed why he took off Luis Alberto, despite his positive performance.
Luis Alberto comes from a period in which he has done less training, some in pain. I saw that after 50/55th minute he started to lose a few too many balls, as if he was tired.
The entry of a player with offensive potential like Milinkovic-Savic could have guaranteed us something more, but by then he had lost his nerve.
