Maurizio Sarri was satisfied with Lazio’s work in their 3-2 win over Atalanta and called to see the same spirit in the coming games.
The Biancocelesti edged out a tense victory over Gian Piero Gasperini’s side on Sunday afternoon, taking home all three points after goals from Valentin Castellanos and Matias Vecino. It was a key result for Lazio, putting them 13th in the Serie A table after eight games.
The international break gives Lazio some time to refocus after their slow start to the season, with their next game coming against Sassuolo on 21st October. A few days after that, they’ll face Feyenoord in an important Champions League clash.
Speaking in a press conference (via La Lazio Siamo Noi), Sarri first discussed the performance of new striker Castellanos.
Taty had a good game, he has grown a lot, he has room for improvement. He is a great fighter, he has great application in every training session. This is his base from which he can grow.
He gave his thoughts on the team’s performance against Atalanta.
We did well in the last 15 minutes. Then if they make us play 100 big games it’s obvious that we can’t keep the same pace for 90 minutes.
A bit of regret, the result could have been a bit clearer in the first half-hour. We conceded the second at a tired moment, when we seemed totally in control of the challenge.
The substitutes reinvigorated us, allowed us to have a good reaction that allowed us to get the victory.
The coach touched on what he wants to see from Lazio in the coming games.
We have to get to the final version where the level of energy, of determination… is what we expressed in large parts of today’s game.
We need to rediscover a bit of solidity, even though we didn’t concede much to Atalanta today. As I told the boys at the end of the first half, inside the box we can do better.
We need more attention, to be less superficial and more decisive in those situations.
Sarri was honest when asked what he told Vecino to make him stay with the club.
‘Vecio don’t bust my balls, you can’t leave. Say goodbye and go’. If you have him in the squad, he’s a cashier’s cheque and sooner or later you can cash him in.
When he has moments when he is well – six or seven months a year – he is a reliable player. There was no chance of him leaving.
He was asked about his red card in the match.
If he sent me off because I was outside the technical area, that’s true. If he sent me off because I was protesting… I just said, ‘Come on this is a foul’. I didn’t say anything offensive, I protested outside the technical area but with words that I think a referee can accept.
At the end of the game, I asked for an explanation, he said ‘come on you didn’t just say that’. I have great esteem for this referee, in the noise of the stadium he heard something else.
Sarri gave his thoughts on the work of Lazio’s new signings.
The new guys are fitting in. Kamada came on well again, he had a good impact, I didn’t play him for a longer period of time because if you see the numbers, he put in at the level of physical performance in the last game, they are impressive.
In all these years I have only seen such numbers from Kante. So today I preferred to let him only play a part of the game. Guendouzi’s first half was very good, Isaksen gave us fuel, he put Kolasinac in trouble.
Taty scored a goal, the integration process is going on. The only one who has done three days of training is Taty. The others arrived in August, some even went to the national team. I’m happy.
He provided an update on injured striker Ciro Immobile and the other absent players.
Ciro is all to be assessed, it could be a muscular problem but also a neurological one, he felt an electric shock sensation in his flexor. He’ll have an MRI and everything, there will be more certain answers.
Luis came off a bit injured, Zaccagni didn’t come off well with a sprained ankle. They’ll assess whether or not to send him home. There are no other important problems.
Finally, Sarri was asked if he was happy to see some of his players fail to receive call ups for the international break.
If they leave them all at home, I’m happy, the happiest of all. Two years of qualifying for the European Championships to take out Andorra, Lichtestein…