New coach Vladmir Petkovic didn’t make too many glowing impressions going into week one of the current season. The Biancoceleste had a troubled pre-season schedule, seeing the team fall victim to some quite unconvincing results. Pressure seemed to be mounting on the new tactician before the season had even started.
Going into the New Year, Lazio sit second in Serie A, have qualified top of their Europa League group and will be present in the Coppa Italia Quarter Final next week against Catania. The Aquile remain unbeaten in Serie A for over 800 minutes of football, and have conceded just three league goals since November 4.
The Bosnian began his tenure by leading the team north to face a normally resilient Atalanta side. Having comfortably overcoming La Dea, Lazio then went on an impressive three match winning run, defying early season critics and conceding just one goal in wins over Atalanta, Palermo and Chievo.
In weeks four and five, Lazio were halted with back to back league defeats at the hands of Genoa and Napoli. This saw Petkovic revert back to the drawing board, and then see his team bounce back with impressive wins over Siena, Pescara and Milan.
It seemed inconsistency would tell the story of Lazio’s season once again going into week nine of the campaign, defeat at the hands of the rejuvenated Fiorentina meant that Lazio were struggling to find a momentum to keep up with league leaders Juventus and Napoli.
Lazio managed just a point at home to Torino in week 10, followed by a heavy 4-0 defeat the week after at the hands of Catania. Questions were being raised, and although Petkovic refused to panic, the fans were worried going into Petkovic’s first appearance in the Derby della Capitale.
Needing to bounce back quickly from the eye-opening defeat in Sicily, Petkovic was adamant that Derby triumph would turn their season around. In what was a highly entertaining match, the Biancoceleste put Zdenek Zeman’s Roma to the sword in a 3-2 victory. A third successive victory in the Derby della Capitale for Lazio gave the coach a platform to get their season back on track.
Lazio have since remained unbeaten. Travelling to Turin and picking up an impressive point away to the league leaders Juventus, the team have then picked up wins against Udinese, Parma, Inter and Sampdoria before the Winter break, gaining some much needed continuity at last.
Hernanes has been a key piece of Lazio’s puzzle so far this season. The Brazilian seems rejuvenated under the new coach, and has become the creative hub the team were searching for last season when narrowly missing out on Champions League qualification.
The emergence of Antonio Candreva has resulted in a call up to the National squad this season. Signing a year ago from Udinese, Candreva has earned many plaudits amongst the Lazio faithful, and has offered a great deal to the team this term. The 25 year old will be an important piece of Petkovic’s squad going into the latter half of the season.
The secret to Miroslav Klose’s success so far this term is that the German has stayed fit. Featuring for the majority of the season has saw ‘the bomber’ score 10 Serie A goals in 17 appearances, proving that the 34 year old has certainly not lost his touch in front of goal.
Despite being constantly overlooked for Cesere Prandelli’s Azzurri squad, Federico Marchetti continues to impress in goal for Lazio. With a series of world-class performances this term, the 29 year old has made eight clean sheets in the his 14 League matches started so far, and is proving a tough nut to crack for opposing strikers.
Although there is disappointment surrounding the usage of Mauro Zarate, the midfield trio of Stefano Mauri, Cristian Ledesma and Alvaro Gonzalez have continued to keep Lazio’s engine ticking over. Eddy Onazi has also been slowly integrated into the side, and is certainly a future prospect for Lazio to look forward to.
It is fair to say that the coach has had a lot more luck with squad fitness this term. Edy Reja’s Lazio were decimated with injuries at times last season, and it proved to be a key factor in missing out on third place.
Lazio have been dominant at the Stadio Olimpico so far, Genoa being the only team to leave with three points. Away form has been an issue, but a win in Genova against Sampdoria before Christmas showed maturity amongst the team, and proved Lazio are capable of picking up maximum points on their travels.
If finishing the year in second place wasn’t good enough for Lazio, Petkovic has saw his team shine on the European stage also. Finishing top of a Europa League group that consisted of Tottenham Hotspur, Maribor and Panathinaikos, Lazio have comfortably put themselves into last 32 and will face Borussia Mönchengladbach in February.
Poor expectations going into the current campaign meant that many critics have decided to change their mind on Lazio’s decision to appoint Petkovic. The Biancoceleste take 36 points into the New Year, compared to the 30 gained at this point last year when Reja was at the helm.
It seems Lazio’s key ingredient to success so far this term is togetherness amongst the squad. While it seems signing new players is priority for most clubs in January, I think Claudio Lotito’s objective should be to tie Petkovic down to a bumper contract. With relatively no new acquisitions in the summer, the Bosnian has impressed thoroughly and deserves some recognition for the job he is doing in Rome.
After returning from the same break last year, Lazio travelled to Siena and fell victim to a 4-0 thrashing. The Biancoceleste return to action against Cagliari on Saturday evening, and the coach realises that if his team are to be any sort of rival to Juventus, then the same mistakes cannot occur this year.
Follow Ben on Twitter: @benlally87
