Saw the Derby match on the replay and stadium was not even half full. The match itself was boring and they took control with a penalty which was clearly outside the box. Then the rest of the match we could not break them down. Defence is a liability and has been all season. Giving away soft goals and from errors. We need new defenders.
So is it fair to say Felipe Anderson finally got his form back to where he left off last season or does he still have some ways to go?
Not quite the form he he last season but he's making an impact when given opportunities. He started on the bench vs empoli, but made an immediate impact when he came on. While not as spectacular as last season he is definitely been asked to put in more work defensively. We need him to have a big match today v Juve.
We lost to Juventus 2-0. Our defence is just so poor. We concede so easily and then teams just defend matches out and then hit us on the counter. We are lacking in goals and defensively we are probably one of the worst teams in the League. This season will be a waste. Europe seems a distant target. We will not get anywhere when we can not stop teams from scoring goals so easily against us.
Big win 2-1 at San Siro vs Inter. Somewhat fortunate to egt the penalty but hey we know Felipe Melo is prone to stupidity. Handanovic stopped Candreva but he put home the rebound. Great to finally get a win and you could see the relief and elation from the boys especially after the tough draw vs Samp. Great to go into the break with a win.
Saw the replay and finally we got in front instead of chasing the game. From then on I thought we were comfortable. Internazionale never created anything other then the goal. I really can not remember any saves Berisha had to make. I hope this lifts the confidence og the team and we get some players bvack from injury over the Christmas break. Hopefully Melo gets a big ban, he kicked Biglia in the neck. Horrible player.
Great 3-1 win at Artemio Franchi. We have a great record against them and it showed here. We were compact and were playing on the counter like against Internazionale. It seems that way of playing is working for us more than trying to open teams up. We have a lot of pace up front and we had some really good chances. Keita took his goal really well. Milinkovic-Savic showed really good strength to hold the Fiorentina defenders and get his shot away and hopefully Felipe Anderson can get his confidence back. Only bad thing was Berisha gave away another goal. We can not have him at number two anymore. He is not good enough. Marchetti signed a new contract and hopefully comes back as soon as possible. Great win for the club's 116th Anniversary.
Berisha is garbage but thankfully Lazio was not. We played like we wanted to win and this mentality has been lacking largely. Lazio is not inferior to Fiorentina by any stretch of imagination. This Lazio team when healthy is very good, not just good technically but also that they are very familiar with each other as Lotito is reluctant to sell his starters unless asked to go. I can see the potential in this group, but they have to play with no fear. If Lotito can grab a solid defenseman by market end, this season we can maybe challenge for fifth. But this defender is certainly needed, and to add him next year to de vrij would be an even better situation. This one solid defender must come though. It is crucial. Auguri SS Lazio 1900!
What about Wesley Hoedt. He is still young (21). Don't you think he will improve as he matures just like De Vrij.
He is not ready yet and is definately not starter for Lazio. He needs to improve a lot to become a starter. De Vrij came here already mature and has much more experience.
Yea Hoedt has been disappointing. He seems so confident with his fake pass and turn and his passes in general but he turns the ball over way way too much. He has a long way to go and has proven to be unreliable. The thing I would like to see is Hoedt with De Vrij. De Vrij is ready .. more than ready to anchor a defensive line in a defensive reliant league. Hoedt is unorganized and I blame some of that on Mauricio who is a donkey. De Vrij and Hoedt is something to be seen in the future, it was supposed to be this season but De Vrij has really hurt Pioli without his leadership back there. With De Vrij set to come back in the offseason and Hoedt having a year of serie a experience under his belt, hopefully they can connect in offseason. I wouldn't write off Hoedt yet, but hes on thin ice. Next year will be his do or die year.
Now that the season is picking up again, let's talk our beloved Biancoceleste. Pioli is still trying to get the proper team to get us back to last season's form. Unfortunately the issues in defense namely the CBs is really hindering the team's ability to play the free flowing soccer we enjoyed last season. Couple that with FA not having the same magic he had last season and you can see why we've struggled. 1-1 draw at Gala, decent result but we easily could have won and we really had two great shouts for penalties. Milinkovic is beginning to gain more and more confidence he was everywhere vs Gala. There's no reason why we shouldn't take care of Gala at home, they have some individual quality but you can see why they are in crisis their structure is very loose, they're all over the place at times. Tomorrow the Lazio derby vs Frosinone. I would love to go to this match. I have plenty of family in the region many of whom are Laziali, I wonder who they will be rooting for tomorrow. Frosinone have held their own quite well. They're valuing every point, surely they will play tight at the back and hope to nick one on the counter. We've struggled to break down teams that have done this to us this season.
Frosinone has the most goals against and they are close to Rome. The fans boycott the Olimpico and do their best to travel to away games instead. I think we may see a pretty good turnout for Lazio fans. I too have sympathy for Frosinone, I hope they manage to get out of the relegation zone, but this week we have to get a reassuring 3 points. Galatasaray were lucky. They got away with a tie and because we couldn't finish more chances, they are 1 goal away from eliminating us. Very excited and very hopeful about Europa.
We are through to the final 16 after a 3-1 over Gala (4-2 agg). We were by far the better team over 2 legs. Gala had 3 opportunities over 2 legs and found 2 goals. The defense was solid, Parolo and Biglia were excellent in support. For the first time all season we looked like last season's team stroking the ball around and playing with confidence. The team responded really well after conceding. Throught bringing on Candreva really swung the match, his composure in attack created many more opportunities. We can hang with most of the teams left. Unless Juve can pull it off in Munich we are Serie A's last hope for European glory.
The goals that were scored brought back fond memories. Parolo was dangerous. Our tick tack passing goals came back and were embarrassing the opposition. We made our possession count with many shots. Limited chances against. Fighting spirit. This is Lazio. This is non mollare mai. As Rob said, we were by far the best team. Very proud performance.
We won the lottery by getting Sparta Praha in the next round. Don't know much about Sparta other than they beat Krasnodar 4-0 on agg. Impressive, but Krasnaodar was finished after conceding in the 2nd leg, after not scoring an away goal in the 1st leg. I see Sparta is 2nd in the Czech league to Viktoria Plzen whilst conceding only 11 goals in 18 matches, while in the EL they've conceded only 5 goals in 8 matches, though they did concede 3 in 2 matches vs Schalke. We need the away goal, if Sparta's defensive record is any indication we must have the front foot going to Rome. We've seen vs the likes of Carpi and Frosinone, that we can really struggle to break teams down. Nothing is easy at this stage but we really couldn't ask for a better draw. Not to mention only one of these teams will be in the QF: - ManU/Liverpool - Valencia/Athletic - Villareal/BL - Basel/Sevilla - BVB/Tottenham
Agreed. This was the "easiest" we could have got. Still, it would be a huge mistake not to take them seriously. Very excited.
1-1 FT vs Sparta Praha. Decent result, we have no excuse not to finish them off in Rome. We really could have won this match with a little more quality up front, there were opportunities to be had. Candreva almost had us with one foot in the QF but he saw his volley carom off the crossbar. Defense was shakey early but Sparta didn't really have any clear cut opportunities after 30 mins. Keita was good today, and I would definitely have him start up front, since our other center forwards are completely out of sorts lately. Set pieces also posed a big problem for Sparta, set plays have been the bread butter in this competition, actually looking back many of our goals have come on similar plays to one we saw today. Forza!
This europa league form is encouraging. We actually look like a unit out there which we are the exact polar opposite in league play. It is true, our strikers are lacking and without a critical striker, we can only go so far in the Europa League. Someone has to step up. That being said, we have 10 different players who have marked the score sheet. Sort of reminds me of Italy WC2006.
Missed the match today due to work, wow what a let down. We knew this team is flawed and probably isn't material for QF in the EL but to lose 3-0 to Sparta Praha at home....... So discouraging considering where we were at this time last season. Sparta were moving the ball with confidence but still Hoedt and Bisevac have been atrocious. Amateur defending on both early goals, credit Sparta they capitalized with 2 superb finishes. Hoedt has been terrible all season, sure he's improved a little but he isn't Serie A calibre, at least not starting calibre. The loss of De Vrij has rippled through the whole squad. Not only is he an excellent defender but he partnered well with Mauricio. Not sure if Pioli survives this. I don't think he deserves to be let go, last season was such a revelation I think he deserves another chance. We went for the CL, you have to commend Lotito for not selling Biglia, FA, Parolo or Candreva for a chance to make the CL, but looking at it now it may have been the perfect time to rebuild with youth.
After the first away leg, Lazio handled them with such ease that it was destined to see Praha suffer the same way a sorry Galatasaray did. The weakness is the mentality within the team and this game proves it. It's not the talent, but for the first time I am admitting its time Pioli goes. Whether its now or after the season doesn't make a difference since there's nothing to play for except the derby. Pioli has embarrassed Lazio enough. Ive had enough of these losses to inferior opponents. Our CB's are poor and they showed their true colors last night. Bisevac has no business in serie a. Mauricio is a donkey, and poor Hoedt at 22 has no mentor to learn off of nor an anchor to lean on.
Hopefully someone can point me in right direction. Currently I'm in Florence, but Friday night I'm going to Rome and I'd like to go to Lazio game on Sunday. What is best way to buy tickets? Do they sell out? Anyway to buy them in Florence? I thank you in advance for your help
Well a tough season all around, the fact Viola fans have taken the last couple of posts says alot. Great to see Klose get the farewell he deserved. I was sceptical when he brought in from Bayern but he has been an absolute great team mate and a great servant for the club. The best Miro moment in a Lazio jersey: For years we grilled Udinese for selling their top players before the CL qualifications. Lazio was in the same position in August, apparently bids were flying in for Biglia, De Vrij, FA, Keita and Parolo. Lotito apparently turned down 20 or 25 M Euro for Biglia. We have to commend the Lotito and Tare for taking a chance at the CL knowing these opportunities don't come around often, but you also can't help but think how say 40M euro could have been well served to reinforce the squad. The loss of Biglia right before the 2nd leg in Leverkusen hurt, a couple of mistakes from our CBs lost the tie. Then De Vrij gets hurt and Pioli was scrambling all season for a replacement. Pioli had a vision and we saw it last season, but with De Vrij out we simply couldn't control and play from the back like in 2015. Here we are no European ball next season, which should help in Serie A. Looks like Prandelli is set to become our new manager. I am ok with that, I would have been ok with Inzaghi too h knows the club inside and out and why not an unknown commodity? Not sure if he will go with his typical 4-3-1-2 formation. Who is the trequartista? FA? Our team is better suited for wing play atm, not sure if Prandelli will adapt to the squad, but he has proven before like he did with Italy at Euro 2012 he can change to suit his players or the matchup like the 3-5-2 used vs Spain. Should be an interesting summer, I can see Candreva leaving, hopefully he has a strong Euro to drive up his price tag.