After a humiliating defeat at the hands of Palermo this weekend, there have been many questions asked amongst Laziale as to who the blame lies upon.
As throughout most of the season Edy Reja has had to do without a number of key figures, but as of late the injury list has reached breaking point.
It is a daunting task for any manager to keep continually rotating his squad, and despite this the Tactician has managed to keep consistency for the majority of the campaign.
The coach reflected that “There must be a response from the team, from a moral standpoint, because we kept up with third place and Udinese, now we need to recover some of the injured and we must remain calm from a psychological viewpoint. The whole team needs to believe again.”
The result against Palermo was inevitable and playing with one half fit defender in Andre Dias was not the best option to face an attacking Rossonero side. Recent performances have been an indication to the poor Mercato and the extremely bad hand Claudio Lotito has dealt his Coach.
Other results went in Lazio’s favour last weekend and have kept them still within touching distance of that third and final Champions League place. But can Reja act the magician and bounce back from this? It seems that the teams below Lazio in the league are starting to find a bit of form and it means the Biancoceleste will be looking over their shoulders as they try and come through this horrible period.
I am trying to stay optimistic about the coming fixtures but at the same time I am just praying it doesn’t get worse for Reja’s men. With Francelino Matuzalem picking up another booking and the forever clumsy Andre Dias being sent off, this means both men will miss Sunday’s fixture against Fiorentina.
I often wonder with the poor form of teams around Lazio, what the team could have achieved this season if there was a fully fit squad to choose from. The likes of Christian Brocchi and Stefano Mauri throughout, Guiseppe Biava and Andre Dias consistently pairing up in defence.
Unlike a lot of teams in Serie A, Lazio never have a plan B to fall back on when things go wrong. Strength in depth is missing and if you are to fight for a Champions League place, this is vital. The Biancocelesti have had extremely bad luck this season regarding injuries, but if Lazio can survive this then finishing third will be like winning the Scudetto itself.
If Lazio do finish in the Champions league position or even grab another Europa League spot, the president needs to invest in the team. If it is what the team are aiming for, then why did Lotito let Reja down in the Mercato? Injuries have decimated Lazio’s squad and it has destroyed hopes of a good run in the Europa League this season.
It is evident that if you are to be one of Europe’s elite and playing in competitions year after year then money needs to be invested. There is only so far a squad of Lazio’s size can go, and we have seen it in the past few weeks that it has been undone.
Some fans blame Reja for recent results, but I personally believe that president Claudio Lotito is to blame and I struggle to see what his plans for the future are with Lazio. The Biancoceleste are a club with history and deserve to be playing in the top competitions with the best teams in Europe, but whilst he is showing a shyness of spending money the Biancocelesti are a far cry from doing so.
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good article mate We have fallen apart recently because of our poor transfer window dealings and Like you also said our lack of strength in depth, I think there may be more pain to come our way before it gets better, I hope that ome of the youngsters in a previous article written by You are ready to break through sometime soon. What do you think the likeliness of Zarate returning ? Also do you think we can sign Honda he would be a great signing IMO
Thanks Alot Rich, appreciated. I would love to see Zarate paired up with Klose, that would be an awesome partnership. I think Lotito will cut ties with him though and sell up. And regarding Honda i think the negotiations ended sourly so i doubt they will re-open talks with us. There is plenty of players of quality out there, i just hope we land a few. Also i will be adding something more on the primavera in the coming week.
A great piece Ben, I am a worried Lazio – i was never deluded enough to think we were in the race for the Scudetto BUT I did think we could/will get third … sadly that latter ‘will’ gets less likely with results like Sunday.
Whilst I don’t blame Reja, I don’t think he’s a good enough coach – he is very good at keeping team in a league but not the best at the top end. I see the next two bosses being Diego Simone, whilst he has more money available at Atletico he loves Lazio. The next is Paolo, once he has proved himself with swindon and the West Ham he will come home again.
But for this to happen – Lotito must go, he is the one who causes the problems who stopped the right transfers being completed and he push Paolo out last time. Yes Lotito saved the club but it’s time for him to move on ….