Red Mist

By: cathal | August 31st, 2009

Yesterday’s game was frictional to say the least and although Cribari fell victim to a red mist, the team managed to hold on and dig out a 2-1 victory over fierce rivals, Chievo. I have no doubt that both sides will have better games this season and frankly they would need to. Neither side created much in the way of opportunities and a goal glut was never on the cards. Still, that combination of skill and luck helped us over the line; we got lucky with the most dubious of penalties and a bit of Zarate magic and Cruz knowhow scrambled us across the finish line. We now enter 24 hours of craziness followed by a hard earned break and then a home tie against a Diego-inspired Juventus. Bring it on.

The highlights will summise the game perfectly so for the timebeing, I am going to concentrate on the transfer speculation. As it stands, it looks as though a last bid for Rever of Gremio has failed and now our defensive eye switches once again to Canini. Ledemsa’s agent has confirmed that his client will stay and as a result of that, no midfielders will be brought in. Lotito has already stated that captain Balboa believes the team needs no reinforcements and thus you begin to wonder if excuses are already being made for what are, thus far, failed attempts to land a defender. That’s the latest news, check the comments section for more.

As for Ballardini’s formation and the Foggia argument, the facts are simple. Due to Cristian’s absence from the team, our coach needs to shore up the defence before he worries about anything else. In order to do this, he slots in a three man midfield with a defensive mentality. Pasqualino does not fit in that midfield. He could play as trequartista but Matuzalem gets the nod for his superior ability to track back. He could play as a striker but clearly we have better options. All these factors lead to Foggia being used as a supersub. Unfortunately, when you are one goal up and one man down, Pasquale is the last man you can afford to bring on and that is why he didn’t play yesterday. If Ledesma comes back and begins playing and if we get a more compact and organised defence, I am sure we will then see our little maestro. Until then, he is too big of a risk. These are the small tactical moves that we didn’t see from Rossi; the decisions that can bring us back into games and keep leads when we have them, which is exactly what we pulled out of that hat yesterday. Long may it continue. Forza Lazio!

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Reaction:

“We suffered greatly. It was a very tough match but in the end, we deserved to win. We were doing well with two goals and then it is normal to suffer. We have played a lot in the last two weeks.” – Francelino Matuzalem

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“The weapons are a winning character, humility and the sacrificial spirit. I saw a team that has never disintegrated. I think being down to ten men in two days, in two different matches and holding on shows great character and strong nerves. The heart of the team came out and this is crucial.” – Claudio Lotito

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Highlights: