The key to picking up three points yesterday was keeping Maccarone quiet but our boys, and in particular, Siviglia, made him look like Sammy Eto’o. You can understand nerves at this time and a lack of confidence but when you know the opposition has one threat and (with all respect to the Tuscans) one threat only then you have to keep the danger at bay. Sebastiano was handing Massimo belated birthday presents all day long, one of which ended in a horrendous goal and another should have ended in the dismissal of Muslera, if I’m being honest. From the little I saw, two players derailed our comeback yesterday and of course, one of them would have to be our most experienced centre-back. Good omens for Villarreal. Not.

As for our tactics, I thought we had it spot on prior to the game. Rocchi has been so poor recently, he deserved to be dropped and I thought Cruz would be able to hold the ball up, bring Zarate and Foggia into the game and feed off their scraps. It seems that plan failed and for an attack that many hailed as one of the best in Serie A to be misfiring in all cyclinders is frankly unforgivable. I realise Maurito is suffering from a bad case of second season syndrome, I understand Tommaso is probably past it, I’ve noticed that Julio lacks fitness and I appreciate that Pasquale tends to resemble a lost sheep all too often but surely we can sort this one out at the very least? It’s frightening. We can’t miss Goran that much surely?

Next up; Villarreal. At least we have a table there that we find ourselves in the top half of. Having lost touch with that ridiculous 13 team pack in Serie A, we need to grab something in the Europa League. A single point would put us in a great position; that needs to be the aim. Small steps and perhaps we can escape this mess. Forza Lazio!

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Reaction:
http://www.goal.com/en/news/10/italy/2009/11/01/1597854/lazio-impose-press-silence-following-draw-with-siena – technically a reaction but it looks like we may have to cut this part of the review for at least a few weeks…

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Highlights:

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Pictures: http://www.lazialita.com/VisualizzaSezione.asp?IdArticolo=6088#

It is difficult to know how we should approach this game today but I think the key is to not get caught in two minds. We can go for the tactical masterclass; stifle Siena as best we can and hit them on the counter or we can throw caution to the wind, go for it and see what happens. As long as everybody is on the one wavelength, we have a chance. I would tend to opt for the latter option. Matuzalem is suspended which is probably going to force Ballardini to play 4-3-3. It looks as though Rocchi will be dropped in favour of fielding Cruz up on his own, flanked either side by Zarate and Foggia. Mauri, Baronio and Brocchi should form a midfield trio with Radu and Siviglia stationed behind them. Kolarov, Lichtsteiner and Muslera completes the line-up. Here is what I expect in full:

Lazio (4-3-3): Muslera, Kolarov, Radu, Siviglia, Lichtsteiner, Mauri, Baronio, Brocchi, Zarate, Cruz, Foggia.

As for Siena, they are not the plucky side of last season. Giampaolo has recently departed which should work in our favour and key players such as Kharja have also came and gone. The main man is obviously Massimo Maccarone and we will need to keep him quiet if we want to control the game. All in all, there is not much to be afraid of but there never was in previous seasons and picking up points here has always been a struggle. Nevertheless, I think they will be more afraid of us than we will be with them and with some much needed luck, this can be the beginning of a fightback. Forza Lazio!

Previous Encounter: Siena 2-0 Lazio (Calaio’, 25, Maccarone, 85)
Last Season: As above
Stream: www.myp2p.eu

To get the ball rolling with this new system, I am asking you to evaluate the performance of our coach, Davide Ballardini. I actually intended to draft up this poll weeks ago but since results have continued to go from bad to worse, it now appears to be the perfect (or if you’d rather, imperfect) time to put this question to you. Feel free to skip the rest of this entry and cast your vote immediately, however, I would like to make a few thoughts of mine known before I pose the question.

In my honest opinion, recent results have been disastrous and I would be surprised if anybody disagrees with me on that one. However, despite criticism and accusations of mismanagement on the president’s part, the Ravenna-born tactician is accumulating his fair share of criticism also. This is understandable but is it deserved? Yes, we are situated in the most horrendous of league positions but just how much has our bald-headed boy had to contend with? Firstly, he has had to deal with the absence of Pandev and Ledesma, an absence “Lazio” decided upon and one that was just beginning to emerge when the spec-lover wore his favourite sky blue (ok, not quite) jumper to put pen to paper. Since then, he has had to rebuild the side, a mission that on first glance appears to have failed spectacularly. However, we know Ballardini is a notorious slow-starter who likes to take his time in imposing his style upon sides so is it safe to conclude that he has finished with that process?

Many people have been quick to criticise his tactics but just what can you do with a decent-sized injury list and a bunch of “dissidenti?” The consistent benching of Foggia and the presence of Baronio has raised many an eyebrow as has the positioning of Zarate and the rotation of an inept defence. Does he need more time? There have also been suggestions that Davide is a slave to Lotito; these allegations are understandable but it is difficult to fathom why a guy who walked out on Cellino and Zamparini could possibly think Claudio was a more optimistic solution? Many question marks surround his present reign but considering we cannot replace him with a coach inside Serie A under newly devised regulations, does the possibility of having Mihajlovic at the helm or someone of that calibre whet your appetite? Let me know. Forza Lazio!

Ballardini: Back or Sack?(opinion)

Nevertheless, actual talk of Serie B is something I cannot help but find ludicrous. Don’t get me wrong, we have a tough batch of fixtures between now and 2010 and there is a realistic possibility we could slip further down the pecking order before all is said and done but relegation? That has to be as likely as Rioma winning the Scudetto. To avoid that possibility, we need 28 points in 28 games and if people are sitting here believing we can’t achieve that then I’m off to Mars. Maybe a Top 10 place is not on the cards and perhaps we have to contend with that reality but relegation talk is, at the very least, premature.

These are problematic times but I can still see the wood for the trees. Look at the table; we are seven points behind Parma in 4th. The big guns are struggling and we just happen to be struggling the most. Despite suffering an unacceptable amount of poor results, there are many games this season which could have turned out differently. As far as I’m concerned, we haven’t dominated a single game but aside from Bari, there has not been a single game where the opposition has played us off the field. I’m not one to blame others for our own flaws but how many refereeing decisions have cost us games? How many legitimate penalty claims have we had turned down and how many red cards have we actually deserved? Yes, we are not making our lives any easier with our lacklustre displays on the field but the man in the middle is by no means lady luck. It could be us in 4th; we wouldn’t deserve it but we could easily be sitting there. For that reason, I am not going to get too carried away and bogged down in this crisis. I can’t deny its existence but you will not convince me that it is not being vastly exaggerated.

We could have won against Cagliari…we just didn’t. Forza Lazio!

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Reaction:
http://www.goal.com/en/news/10/italy/2009/10/28/1590259/lazio-coach-davide-ballardini-feels-responsible-for-loss-against-
http://www.goal.com/en/news/10/italy/2009/10/29/1590981/lazio-coach-davide-ballardini-a-ritiro-could-be-an-option

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Highlights:

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Pictures: http://www.lazialita.com/VisualizzaSezione.asp?IdArticolo=6036

Unlike many, I am not disillusioned at recent results but I do believe that few have forgiven Lotito for his messing up of the mercato. That’s fine and justifiable but not too many people here were requesting anything more than one centre-back and one centre-midfielder so I’m not sure how long we can keep that one up for. It’s early days, we are four points off the relegation zone but only five off a Champions League spot. I can’t help but see all this as an overreaction.

Why? If Bari showed the world anything last weekend, it’s that Serie A is now very competitive. Take a look at other results in Serie A and pay particular attention to how teams in European competition fared. Inter were poor against Catania, Juve were seriously lucky against Siena, Fiorentina lost at home, Milan needed our Sandro to drag them out of a hole, Rioma lost at the Olimpico to Livorno and Genoa fell to our next opponent. We are not the only ones feeling the heat. On the contrary, Sampdoria, who went deep into the Coppa Italia last season and relatively far in Europe, a team who struggled all season long to avoid gettting dragged into a relegation battle are now, with virtually the same line-up, title contenders. We are quite simply victims of our own success.

I have faith in the manager and our players to turn this around and I look forward to tonight’s game and hope we will finally turn the corner. Forza Lazio!

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Reaction:
http://www.goal.com/en/news/10/italy/2009/10/25/1583393/lazio-coach-davide-ballardini-takes-blame-for-awful-display
http://www.goal.com/en/news/10/italy/2009/10/26/1585828/lazios-defeat-to-bari-was-a-wake-up-call-president-claudio

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Highlights:

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Pictures: http://www.lazialita.com/VisualizzaSezione.asp?IdArticolo=5988

I made a rather ambitious prediction to a few friends that Parma would easily make the Top 10 this season with Bari hovering there or thereabouts. Not many took me seriously but we know the damage the former did to us so I really see this game as a case of stopping the latter from mustering up something similar. I know I could sound a bit pessimistic now but under different circumstances, I’d shake hands on getting a point from this game. I don’t see the opposition as relegation fodder and I don’t fancy trying to outplay them in that stadium but since we are all on a bit of a high from midweek, let’s give it a bash.

There has been much speculation about a possible 3-4-3 which looks more like a 5-3-2 and I don’t think it’s a question of if Ballardini switches to it as when. My hunch is that it will be today and with Siviglia missing, the back three automatically becomes Radu, Cribari and Diakite’. Kolarov and Lichtsteiner will provide the width. I think our coach has thought ahead when it comes to the midfield. Baronio is suspended and Mauri and Brocchi were used sparingly against Villarreal so that leads me to believe they will feature today with the suspended-in-Europe, Matuzalem dividing the two in the middle. Zarate will start in attack and although Lalaziosiamonoi have plumped for Rocchi, I am half-thinking Cruz may get the nod. We will have to see on that one. Anyway, here is what I assume we will see:

Lazio (3-5-2): Muslera, Radu, Cribari, Diakite’, Kolarov, Lichtsteiner, Mauri, Matuzalem, Brocchi, Zarate, Rocchi.

As for Bari, I think they have the nucleus of an excellent side. Almiron is beginning to return to his former self and Kutuzov is an ever-present threat nowadays. Luckily for us, Rivas is out of this tie and that should minimise their potency in attack. As for defence, I think they are solid enough there but there are weaknesses we can exploit. In other words, they can give us serious problems if we fail to get our game right but as long as we concentrate on ourselves rather than the opposition, I’m optimistic that we can add a much needed three points to our tally. Forza Lazio!

Bizzarri, Kolarov, Radu, Cribari, Lichtsteiner, Dabo, Baronio, Matuzalem, Foggia, Zarate, Cruz.

19:03 CET: Lazio kick-off and nine seconds in, my stream dies. Wonderful.
19:07 CET: I think I will stick on the kettle and hope my stream recovers by the time I have fetched a nice cup of tea. Before I go, I’d just like to say that Villarreal may be bottom of the table but to get a win from this would be a magnificent result and a huge boost for those who have World Cup ambitions; I hear Lippi is around somewhere.
19:12 CET: Back in both senses and my initial impression is that both sides will go for this. I can see an early goal coming.
19:15 CET: End to end stuff right now with the visitors just shading the better of the play I reckon.
19:18 CET: A blatant dive in the penalty area from Nilmar and he duly receives a yellow for it. No big deal but let’s keep them out of the box for a few minutes; they’ve already had three decent efforts.
19:22 CET: MAURITO ZARATE FIRES LAZIO IN FRONT!!!
19:28 CET: To say we deserve our lead would be stretching it as we have been tentative and cautious but it brings me back to the point I was making last weekend; will Zarate and Rocchi work? Great build-up play from our own Super Julio.
20:24 CET: …I hate streams.
20:27 CET: That Eguren goal before half time really knocked the stuffing out of us and it looks like only one side can win this now. Nothing going in our favour.
20:30 CET: The wheels are falling off the wagon. Villarreal have a dubious goal disallowed before Matuzalem is sent off for diving in the box (second yellow). Thoughts? I’m not too happy, I can tell you all that much.
20:33 CET: That was, what can only be described as an atrocious decision that could end up dumping us out of the competition. Inexcusable. To make matters worse, Cruz misses a good opportunity.
20:36 CET: Rocchi is on for Foggia. With ten men, Ballardini is going for this which should silence a few critics that has been criticising his negativity recently.
20:43 CET: We are on top but will we get our reward for it?
20:51 CET: Added minutes now and after a long spell of pressure, we are now on the backfoot.
20:53 CET: WOULD YOU BELIEVE IT!? ROCCHI HAS SCORED TO MAKE IT 2-1!!! Not over yet and Villarreal have a free-kick in a neat position.
20:56 CET: Full time. Against all odds, Lazio have grabbed a late and somewhat deserved victoy. It would have been a travesty if we lost this game; no more than we deserve. Forza Lazio!

If I didn’t see it with my own eyes, I would have to assume that the referee was donning a pair of Cassano’s underpants over his head. The visitors will claim they should have had a few stone wall penalties and I can understand that frustration but for me, there was nothing as unforgivable as Baronio’s red card. Can someone tell me when they introduced the shepherding of the ball out of play as a bookable offence? If I wasn’t so livid, I would have been in stitches laughing. That decision ruined the momentum we had gathered from the sending off of Padalino; in my ideal, footballing world, that is not a sending off either because he did clip the ball but nine times out of ten, you will be booked for that in the modern game so he can have few complaints. We had the upperhand at that stage and who knows, maybe we could have edged the tie. As for their penalty claims, I personally don’t think it should be a penalty when a ball is booted at a defender’s hand so for once, I actually empathise with Siviglia and as for Diakite’ and his spear, that was ridiculously risky but then again, the attacker was going absolutely nowhere. Both sides had reason to be upset, make no mistake about that.

As for the performance, I think it was sufficient. They worked hard and remained disciplined but on another day (my favourite phrase this season) we take three points. We are hovering around that very thin line and if we had that little rub of the green, we could be in the Top 5 by now and I genuinely believe that. It would, however, be highly ignorant of me to say we don’t have our issues and many of them were glaringly obvious yesterday. First thing’s first, Zarate was magic; very, very sharp and while people will still bash him for being selfish, I can’t help but feel that Rocchi is just not on his wavelength and has no desire to be. This lack of an understanding is costing us goals and you have to wonder if we should be playing Cruz with the Argentine. Dropping Maurito is not an option for as long as we refuse to consider Pandev unless we play Foggia as a striker and unfortunately, that decision is almost a no-brainer. In other words, Ballardini has to find a constant partner for the boy wonder and fast. Speaking of Pasquale, contrary to popular opinion, I can’t see room for him in this squad at present. Matuzalem is on scintillating form and for me, he is too good to leave out now and Mauri was single-handedly, the creator on the field yesterday. I love Pasqualino; the maestro. I really do but I don’t see how we can play him outside of a three man attack and I struggle to see how a 4-3-3 would work without Ledesma. Finally, I think having Brocchi back in the side is a huge plus; the guy is just back from a very long lay-off and at nearly 60 years of age (slight exaggeration I’ll admit), he turns in the most energetic performance this side of the pitch, aside, maybe from Palombo. We need him to keep that up.

I am satisfied if a little disgruntled. We could easily have won that game and yet there are still issues on which we can definitely improve ourselves. It would be much, much worse if we had to fight for that point with a vintage performance. Roll on Villarreal. Forza Lazio!

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Reaction:

“In my opinion, we had a good game. We created many opportunities and when you concede, it is not easy to recover. We have tried until the very end to win this game against one of the best sides in the league.”

“After Padalino was sent off, we tried to play our best players on the wings and exploit that but it is not always possible. The numbers were cancelled out and Sampdoria have players with great individuality quality and stamina. Cassano and Pazzini are terrific players.”

“The referee didn’t help either of us but anyway, mistakes happen.” – Davide Ballardini

Read more from an in-depth interview here.

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Highlights:

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Pictures: http://www.lazialita.com/VisualizzaSezione.asp?IdArticolo=5883

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Player Ratings:

Muslera – 7.5: Pulled off a string of very fine saves in the first half but had little to occupy himself with in the second. Solid as ever

Kolarov – 6.5: Didn’t get forward as much as he probably hoped to, was too busy keeping Pazzini and Cassano quiet but he made few errors.

Cribari – 6.5: Very decent game for me, not easy keeping that frontline back but I think he did a good job. Shaky at times.

Diakite’ – 6: He had a stellar first half imposing his physical presence where necessary. Let himself down badly in the final few minutes with some dodgy defending and a ridiculous challenge that he was fortunate to get away with.

Siviglia – 5.5: Played in the unfavourable right-back position to give Lichti a rest and credit where credits due, he put in a good shift. He was caught out frequently and did nothing going forward but what else did we expect?

Baronio – 6.5: He might not be Ledesma but he is consistently average, for want of a better word. He went unnoticed for much of yesterday until that farcical sending off.

Brocchi – 7: The much needed boost button for our midfield is back and with a bang. He was typically Christian, running around like a headless chicken and yet somehow looking like he knew what he was doing. A massive mazy dribble near the end of the game typified his performance.

Mauri – 8: Stefano is a real touch of class when he is in the mood and Ballardini appears to be revitalising him. Played numerous dinky passes which would have equated to assists if our strikers could finish. The instigator of many attacks.

Matuzalem – 7.5: He has a unique ability of bringing people into the games, kicking off attacks and as he showed yesterday with a well-taken goal, he can finish them as well. Excellent game for the Brazilian which will only push Foggia further down the pecking order.

Zarate – 7: An absolute joy to watch, at times, he manipulated defenders in ways that Messi could only dream of being able to. The problem for him is, his strike partner was not on his wavelength and as a result, Maurito couldn’t find any form of end product.

Rocchi - 6: I can’t deny that he was sharp but I am frustrated by his lack of willingness at times. Didn’t take the half-chances he got and he needs to up his game if he wants to keep his place in the side.

We may be sitting in that rather familiar area known as mid-table but a two week break should do us the world of good. For the opposition, it couldn’t have come at a worse time; they were up there with the best of them and that momentum has now been broken. That gives us something to be hopeful about, well, that and the fact we did serious damage to them on home soil last season. Inevitably, this is being billed as a Cassano/Zarate rematch but we have another ten men to consider. Namely, Muslera in goal, Kolarov and Lichtsteiner out wide flanking Siviglia and Diakite’ presumably, with fit again, Brocchi lining up alongside the mercurial Baronio and the now ever-present Mauri. Matuzalem as trequartista is probable and on form alone, I expect Rocchi to get the nod ahead of Cruz. We are truly guessing now as this is probably the first time since the Supercoppa where everyone has been fit and eligible and we will see today what Ballardini’s philosophy is at present. Here is the team in full:

Lazio (4-3-1-2): Muslera, Kolarov, Siviglia, Diakite’, Lichtsteiner, Baronio, Mauri, Brocchi, Matuzalem, Zarate, Rocchi.

As for Samp, I only ever worry about three players and I am sure it’s the same for everyone. Palombo truly holds that team together and we need to hope we either break his legs or he has a rare off-day and then in attack, we have to worry about Cassano and Pazzini. I still think they lack consistency as a duo but they are more than capable of killing us too so we will have to be vigilant and mark them out of it as much as possible. That is easier said than done with our defense but I believe we will do a sufficient job. On paper, this looks like draw fodder but I can’t see us losing this one and I genuinely think we could give them a lesson to remember today. We just have to keep focused. Forza Lazio!

Previous Encounter: COPPA ITALIA FINAL!!!
Last Season: Lazio 2-0 Sampdoria (Zarate, 7, Pandev, 71)
Stream: www.myp2p.eu

Earlier this week, S.S. Lazio had a short encounter with the Mayor of Rome and the team were congratulated for their achievements in last year’s Coppa Italia and this summer’s Supercoppa. The last few months have been difficult for all of us and it has been hard to conjure up a post without mentioning a certain three names in particular. However, let’s put all that aside and look to the future with a renewed sense of optimism. Forza Lazio!