Not so long ago it looked as if Lazio coach Edy Reja was moments from leaving the club. In his own words, “It was a difficult start, I was about to give up due to all the pressure from the surroundings, but I have to thank the president for standing by me and supporting me. All is well now.”
And it certainly is. I am waiting for Lazio to explode, ten years on now since Scudetto glory and a decade of mid table finishes hasn’t left too much to shout about on the blue side of Rome. However, over the past two seasons with the introduction of the Tactition – Reja, Lazio have shown glimpses of success.
Last season was a brilliant one, finishing fifth place in Serie A having avoided relegation the previous year. Reja has reignited Lazio’s European football flame, he has worked wonders with a relatively small budget; the introduction of Hernanes last season and Klose, Cisse and Marchetti this season have been masterstrokes from Reja.
Unlike the much talked about Juve, Lazio have European football to contend with in the middle of serie A games and find themselves within just one point of the Bianconeri. The position the Biancoceleste find themselves in at this stage is well deserved.
So can Lazio win the Scudetto? After a fifth place finish last season Reja’s aim must be higher. After losing Zarate and Muslera in the Mercato, the tactician has brought in quality replacements and they are paying dividends even at this early stage. Klose has been prolific and Marchetti is showing signs of his former self, it is only a matter of time before Cisse starts scoring.
At last a first win in the Derby della Capitale for two and a half years has certainly made Reja’s relationship with the Curva Nord stronger, chants of “Reja, Reja” echoed around Formello the day after , while only two weeks before the manager had to deal with death threats from the Tifosi. This kind of atmosphere outlines what a hard job it is to manage a team in Rome, and it is evident, the work Reja has done since taking over speaks for itself.
But while enjoying a great start to the campaign, we haven’t seen the best of many of the players as of yet. It’s only a matter of time before Hernanes is back to his best and Lulic and Cana settle in, Klose will keep scoring I am sure of. The defence can only get better and who knows, if they fail to make it out of the group stages of the Europa league serie A will be Reja and the team’s sole aim.
The next few weeks will be testing ones for the Lazio team, facing Napoli and Juve in November. After these games we will have more of an idea of how the team has progressed from last season, but one thing is for sure, if they are to be contenders for a top three finish they have to take points from both of these games.
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Would it be unkind of me to say that i reckon Reja is no more than one of the ‘merry-go-round’ coaches and as soon as this Lazio bubble bursts he’ll be off to chievo or lecce or somewhere like that…
What about the excellent job he did at Napoli?
Merry go round coach Dov – hop on hop off….
to be fair when you look at his career he loves a 2 year stint at a club, but by merry go round I assumed you meant rubbish.
Mate – i never think ANY Serie A coach is rubbish – if they have their badge from Coverciano then they are brilliant as far as I’m concerned. But what marks out the amazing from the rest is that they create a long term cycle at a club that is succesful enough to keep them their job. Such as Sacchi at Milan, Trap at Juve, Ancelotti at Milan, Prandelli at Fiorentina just as a fewof examples. I despise Mourinho for mking the best of a situation then clearing off when its time to rebuild and things might get tough. A generalisation yes, but thats what i believe and Reja does not have a track record of building anything of note anywhere. If he remains at Lazio for 5/6 years then yes he has achieved something – even if it doesnt include silverware as i dont believe success at certain clubs should be measured only by trophies.
But he did build something of note at Napoli – he was at the club for four years and in that time, they went from Serie C1 to Serie A and Europe. If that isn’t an achievement I don’t know what is.
I will not be convinced!! I discount his time in c1 cos a club of their stature would have made it back to Serie A with a chimp at the helm. Need more than that Rory…..
good stuff ben, keep it up.. by the way im laziale from indonesia