Lazio players are reportedly unhappy with the playing style implemented by Maurizio Sarri, evoking memories of the latter’s first tenure at the club.
The Background
The 67-year-old’s first stint in the capital began in the summer of 2021. It reached its apex in the 2022/23 season, with the team finishing second in the Serie A table. However, the Aquile suffered a steep decline in Sarri’s third season. The manager’s grip on the locker room was beginning to slip, so he opted to resign in March 2024, also citing family reasons.
Maurizio Sarri Enduring Challenging Second Spell at Lazio
The Tuscan tactician agreed to return for a second spell last summer, but his comeback was almost immediately hampered by a transfer ban that prevented the club from making the required additions to his squad. The situation was further complicated following a January transfer window that witnessed the departures of Matteo Guendouzi and Taty Castellanos, among others.
Sarri has been constantly complaining about the lack of quality in his squad, believing his team isn’t capable of challenging for the top spots. Therefore, the coach has been focusing on building a strong defence, opting for a rather uninspiring playing style.
Lazio Players Have Two Requests for Sarri
According to Il Messaggero, the Lazio players have become disgruntled with the current brand of football. While the squad hasn’t turned on the former Napoli and Chelsea boss, the players are hoping for a more attacking approach and less sterile possession.
Sarri Won’t Resign Again
The Roman newspaper notes that this situation is almost reminiscent of the one that culminated in Sarri’s departure in March 2024. Nevertheless, the source insists that the manager won’t resign this time, at least not in the middle of the campaign. Therefore, if the Lazio hierarchy wants him gone, they’ll have to sack him and accept the financial repercussions.
We must change formation. Enough of the 3 man midfield, we don’t have that anymore. Sarri must play something like a 4 2 3 1. We will get nowhere with 4 3 3 unless he starts the kid from Poland and he performs. Other than Taylor and Basic (Rovella innured) we simply don’t seem to have enough. And yes, I love Cataldi and he does throw in some good performances but we have nothing close to a Luis Alberto or an SMS. Come on Mister!!!
Common sense would tell u to try other formation with the quality u have and see the one the works..u dnt stick to one that is bullshit. 4-3-3 system is not working..the best would be a 4-2-3-1 or 3-5-2… PERIOD
I agree with the above. I think 4-2-3-1 would be the best formation. I would try this starting lineup:
Provedel
Marusic – Gila – Romagnoli – Pellegrini
Cataldi – Taylor
Isaksen – Maldini – Zaccagni
Ratkov
I would love to see these people over here coaching Lazio LOL, let’s see if they can do better than Sarri.
Easier said than done, keyboard warriors 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Mate, do you believe we have 3 strong midfielders available? If not, it’s not nuclear science, you don’t play a 3 men midfield.
With Rovella healthy maybe you can argue when Guondozi was here, but he isn’t and even if Taylor is on par, we DON’T have Rovella. I don’t believe you need to be a coach to realise this.
Aware of that, mate.
Look, let’s say we replace Sarri or he leaves, then who’s gonna be in charge?
Our squad is pure mediocre., simple as that. Not even Klopp can save us.
Before we sold Guondozi and Taty, Sarri had the same team that Baroni did and he finished the 1st half top of 3urope League and we were fighting pretty high up in the league. I get it, we had a ban etc, but we were nowhere near with Sarri back in the 1st half of the season. After we sold Gundozi and Taty and replaced none we can’t expect much of Sarri, true, but I am comparing the “level” playing field when they had the same team.
Ps: I don’t know who, but it surely doesn’t help when Sarri talked down our chances all the time and I get why but I don’t need to agree with him. I suppose I would suggest Vincenzo Italiano…but maybe with Fabiani as director and Lotito at helm, everyone is doomed. Tare and Inzaghi weren’t because they were used to Lazio strategy and almost always overchieved
You have a solid point there.
But. The way I see it, these players are not Sarri’s choices from the beginning. Maybe only few like Zaccagni, Romagnoli or Gila that he likes.
Who’s to “blame”? Like you mentioned aforementioned, both Fabiani & Lotito.
But Lotito has been our main problem for quite some time.
And Sarri ? He coulda or shoulda walked away from the beginning after finding out the ban. Dont give this for-the-sake-of-Lazio thing, he just loves the paycheck.
Remember Bielsa case ? His departure, or refusal to train Lazio, was a blessing in disguise.
PS: Just a little piece of my mind, I always consider Lazio as mid-table club. One of some reasons why I fell in love with them in the 1st place.
And we should increase our man marking in the box. Far too often we leave an opponent lurking at the far post for a header. Vs Juve, vs Cagliari, Vs Milan. Fix that and Ill be comfortable cheering for clean sheets. This is what it has come to. But such is life.
Funny how @ Misterlaziali thinks to coach means u got to be some kinda genius mind you some of us are taking online coaching courses so we know exactly what we talking about…ones upon a time somone inzaghi didn’t start with 3-5-2 with lazio…
You are taught to be tactically flexible. Until you find the right formation that fits ur philosophy expecially with the talents u have…wen sarri left and igor tudor came and chang3d the tactics what happed . Team changed and started wining games, this was the same team losing matches…watch our games we hav3 less shots on target, less corners and more usless passes. WANA KNOW why mister? Without naturally gifted strong midfielders and attackers who can run up the ball for 90minutes, u dnt play a 4-3-3. ITS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE ITS COMMON SENSE…SHM
No idea why we stick to the same formation regardless we don’t have suitable players for that. Sarri is good not to leave Lazio while he found out there was a ban in transfer market. But meanwhile he is too stubborn, every manager needs to change to face different opponents and deal with injuries accordingly.
@MisterLaziale it doesn’t (for some reason) allow me to comment on your last reply.
I don’t know maybe Sarri should’ve walked when told the truth about the transfer embargo but point is he didn’t,and from there on like it or not, this is his team and he is supposedly a way better coach than Baroni. As of Lazio being a mid table team I beg to differ, a team that played almost every year in the past two decades in Europe and constantly fight for top 6(bar this season) cannot. E considered an Udinese/Torino etc. Not to mention that till Inzaghi was here, you could have made the case (as Lotito did) that considering the 10-12 years) from the moment till the time he left Lazik won the most cups after Juve (now Napoli, Inter have both won scudettos, cuppas and supercoppas since).
Than top clubs should include fans and in numbers we are again, 6th yet in truth the quality of them are likely top 3 per total and certainly top1 in coreo and so on. So yes, Lazio is a huge club.
Sarri is a tactical dinosaur , a good manager utilises what he has , he doesn’t insist on forcing his tactics on an average team.