The preview is deliberately late because with a few injury concerns, it was impossible to guess what Ballardini would put out there and if you have tuned out in recent days, this line-up is going to shock you:

Lazio (3-4-2-1): Muslera, Radu, Cribari, Stendardo, Kolarov, Mauri, Baronio, Brocchi, Zarate, Foggia, Cruz.

A huge but necessary risk is being taken as Guglielmo is reintroduced into the side. The midfield looks fragile but if Kolarov bombs up the field to support Zarate and Foggia, it could be lethal. I’m expecting big things from Cruz now too; his fitness has been the primary concern all season and that excuse is beginning to war thin. We need to see him on the scoresheet. All in all, this is a side that has potential but it also looks highly vulnerable. We will need to keep our wits about us.

Everybody knows the score with the home side’s dangermen but I’ve watched numerous Napoli games this season and while they tend to play some good calcio, finding the back of the net can be a struggle for them. I sense they’ve turned that all important corner with Mazzarri but if we can get stuck in and make our presence felt, we can make things incredibly tough for them. I assume a home win is expected by most but I’m not convinced. Forza Lazio!

Previous Encounter: Napoli 0-2 Lazio (Rocchi 57, 65)
Last Season: As above.
Stream: http://www.asiaplatetv.net/watch_tvu.php?id=2902

Antony Iannarilli

Antony is a first-teamer but is only deployed to make up the numbers. At such a young age, it’s very difficult to judge a goalkeeper’s ability but with Carrizo unlikely to return, the French-Italian may find himself shooting up the ranks. I would like to see him get a proper shot at some point but obviously that is not going to happen this early in the season.

Alessio Luciani

Alessio made his brief Serie A debut against Fiorentina recently and is one of the main protagonists of our Primavera side. Luciani is a decent age now (approaching 20) and while I think there is definitely a back-up spot for him at Lazio, I’m not sure how long he will accept being Kolarov’s understudy. Does he have the talent to usurp the Serbian? No, I don’t believe so but it would be nice to see him make the step up and chip in with the odd performance. A good player but not enough potential to get too excited about him just yet.

Alessandro Tuia

Currently playing in Italy’s third tier for AC Monza, Ale is not getting too many chances to show that “huge” potential that has been expressed. The next Nesta he is not but he is still very young, especially for a central defender and his trip out on loan will certainly do him good. However, the guy needs to play regularly and next season, when he returns, he has to go back out somewhere he can get a significant amount of game time. My hopes for him are still high but they are certainly fading.

Marco Davide Faraoni

Honestly, I view MD’s injury as one of our biggest losses this season. The right-back, who can potentially play in the centre and also as a winger is supposedly a huge talent and possibly one of the factor’s behind the decision to let De Silvestri go. He will be sidelined for another 4-6 months but I truly believe he was on the verge of a first-team breakthrough and I feel he will make his mark on Serie A next season. It’s a tough ask to put Lichtsteiner out of the side but in Faraoni, I think we have the talent to do so.

Riccardo Perpetuini

The versatile midfielder has had occasional opportunities to show what he can do this season and I have to admit, he has surprised me. I think in terms of ability, he is fairly limited but I think he can develop into a very useful squad player; a dependable set of legs for an injury crisis. His adaptability is a key facet to his game and I assume we will see plenty more of this kid over the remainder of the season.

Federico Sevieri

This is the one youth player I am desperate to see in action. At 18, he is still very young but is technically a member of the main team. I expect to see him get a chance fairly soon as he is well-regarded by many but other than what I’ve heard, I have no idea what kind of player he is aside from the fact that he is a midfielder. I really want to see this player.

Jacopo Sciamanna

Jacopo is the main forward of our Primavera at present. He has been banging in goals in various youth competitions for a number of years now and started this season impressively. The competition in our forward line is ridiculous but with only three players assured of a role, Sciamanna could well be in line for a promotion if he keeps playing like he has been of late. It will be by no means easy, but I have more confidence in Jacopo than I do in the others.

Lorenzo Cinque

Lorenzo made a big impression a couple of seasons ago with his goal tally after virtually taking up calcio as a teenager. Injury problems have blighted his development but many big guns were chasing him with Cinque rejecting all advances. Hopefully he can put his issues aside very quickly and make the step up that he should be capable of.

Libor Kozak

Libor has been criticised immensely but I have never quite understood why. He was relatively prolific last season and featured in a couple of Serie A games at the end of the year. At Brescia, he has played almost all games in some shape and form and has already got his name on the scoresheet. I fully expect him to be the eventual replacement for Cruz and I think we have a very useful forward on our books.

Ettore Mendicino

He made quite the quick impression in a pre-season friendly against Liverpool but has done little of note since. Yes, he is young but top strikers should find their feet in Serie A in no time and Ettore did not look at home at all. He is currently on loan at Crotone and there has been nothing to get our knickers in a twist. I think he could be a decent utility player at best.

I would estimate that four or five of the above names will make it in the top-tier; I just question if they will do so with us and if so, to what capacity. Forza Lazio!

Gabriele uno di noi!!! Forza Lazio!

After missing out on Bengtsson over the summer, it is no surprise that we are being linked to another young and hot prospect in Scandinavia. There is a firm media belief that Ballardini is searching for the next Kjaer and on first glance, Kristijan fits the bill. In terms of stature, he is around the same height as Radu and you begin to wonder if we would look to pair them together. His career is actually fairly impressive considering his age; as a teenager, he broke into the Varteks side which he followed up with a short stint with Cottbus in Germany before moving to the formidable Danish side. He has a significant number of underage national caps too so I don’t think his talent can be denied. As always, the big question marks will surround his compatibility for Serie A but Croatians and Scandinavians have always done well in Italy so I can’t see any particular reason as to why a Croatian with experience in Scandinavia would fail. He definitely looks to be one for the future; it’s just a question of how keen we are and if we have the capabilities to seal the deal.

As a fan of calculated risks, I’m all for this one but whether or not he could be the top notch centre-back we are all hoping for remains to be seen. Forza Lazio!

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

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

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!

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!

In saying that, I hope he doesn’t prove to be of too much worth. Recent speculation suggests that Lotito is set to offer him a deal that would see him rise from being one of the lesser paid players to a high-earner. With a number of top European clubs said to be chasing his signature, we need to act quickly and with only two years left on his contract, the situation is becoming increasingly precarious by the minute. This is where the contract talk kicks in good and proper and as you can see, it is not just Muslera who could be negotiating. However, best of luck to Nando tomorrow and let’s hope the president inks that quill of his and gets a few new deals rolling. Forza Lazio!

Aside from a select few who feel some of our fringe players deserve a crack at the whip, the majority of supporters would not swap Kolarov or Lichtsteiner for anyone. I have to agree with popular consensus. In my opinion, Aleksandar is continually improving his defensive qualities and I think we all know what he offers the side from an attacking perspective. Some of us will argue that he deserves a shot at the left side of midfield and I wouldn’t be opposed to that should it happen in the future. As for Stephan, he is a top notch right-back in my opinion and our coach clearly thinks along similar lines as he refuses to replace him even when the Swiss star is fatigued. His performances this season have been solid but I suspect that he will be back with a bang when the legs become less weary.

As for the centre, we are not all agreeing on this, are we? Despite recent injuries and long-term issues as well, Diakite’ appears to be the back of choice. I understand that completely; I’ve been singing his praises for quite a while but his inexperience does let us down at times. I think he is a key player for when we need a bit of muscle in the centre but whether or not he should be played week in and week out, I am not so sure. In time, yes, but for now, he is a risk. The Frenchman is closely followed by the ever-improving Radu. He played some astounding games prior to the international break and I can’t really argue against his selection at present. His talent is unquestionable but his confidence is an issue. He appears frail and somewhat weak at times and in my opinion, he is a liability when he doubts himself. As for Cribari or Siviglia, the trust appears to be lost but I certainly prefer the former to the latter. I just think Emilson needs a friendly arm around his shoulder from time to time, an arm he most certainly will not get from the tifosi whereas Siviglia just needs a new set of pins. I would certainly extend an arm to the Brazilian but I’m not quite sure I’d lend the ex-Riomanista a leg. Maybe that’s harsh but the sooner I see the back of Sebastiano, the better.

If you agree, let me know in the comments section and if you disagree, definitely let me know so we can get a bit of banter going. I’ll be back with a new poll tomorrow. In the meantime, Forza Lazio!