Genoa per noi

By: salvatore | May 9th, 2008

The team is off to Genoa this weekend, and everything else around it is up in the air. Yep, it seems the upheaval I was expecting to happen this summer has already begun, with sporting director Walter Sabatini and general secretary Giampiero Persichetti both quitting yesterday night. Considering that Sabatini also tendered a letter of resignation following his mind-numbingly awful summer transfer campaign, this doesn’t come as too much of a surprise, but you have to wonder just what else can happen during the course of what is by far the worst season I’ve ever experienced as a Lazio fan. I mean just when the hell is it going to end already? Still two more games? Seriously?

Unsurprisingly, there were reports of possible replacements today, for both Delio and Sabatini. I won’t get into all the possibilities, but I will say that the most interesting for the coach’s spot was one Sven Goran Eriksson. Not sure how likely this would ever be, but there’s no question it would go a long way to soothing the very rocky relationship Lotito has with the Biancoceleste faithful. After all, whether or not he had oodles of Cragnotti money behind him, Svenny was the man at the helm during a win streak that included one Coppa Italia, two Italian Supercups, the last ever European Cup Winners’ Cup, and of course, a Scudetto. Who the hell would argue with his return?

Regardless, I’d expect very little to happen officially until this season grinds to a halt. Which brings us to the encounter with Genoa. Much like last week’s tussle with Palermo, neither team has anything to play for, and you can argue that Lazio might be slightly less than lost at this point.

In any case, the line-up looks to be different from the one that lost 2-0 to Inter mid-week, at least according to PiazzaDellaLiberta. Reportedly, Kolarov, Rozehnal and De Silvestri will get starts at the back, while Firmani will play with Mutarelli and Ledesma in the middle. Depending on where you get your info, the attack will either be the usual trident of Rocchi, Pandev and Bianchi, or one featuring Mauri behind Goran and Balboa.

Genoa has had a solid season in their return to the top flight, and obviously, Marco Borriello is the man to watch on their side. Di Vaio is out, so apparently Marco will be playing between Leon and Sculli, which will make this Sunday’s match the battle of the three-pronged attacks. Let’s hope my bringing this up doesn’t doom us to a 0-0 snoozefest.

Forza Lazio (now more than ever).

Probable formations:

Lazio: Ballotta; De Silvestri, Siviglia, Rozehnal, Kolarov; Firmani, Ledesma, Mutarelli; Pandev, Bianchi, Rocchi

Genoa: Rubinho; Konko, Bovo, A.Lucarelli; M.Rossi, Milanetto, Juric, Fabiano; Leon, Borriello, Sculli

Likelihood Lazio blows it: 80%
Likelihood Borriello scores: 75%
Likelihood Lazio fans travel to Genoa just to insult Lotito: 100%

Here’s what happened the last time these teams met: