No More Running Away

By: cathal | November 30th, 2008

There is nowhere to run and less places to hide. A completely toothless performance from Lazio today saw us succumb to a 2-0 defeat to an Atalanta side that never really got going themselves. There are a million and one questions to be asked but I don’t know if anyone could be bothered to ask them. Without doubt, it was the worst display of the season and by some distance at that.

Where did it all go wrong? I think the best place to start is with Rossi’s initial formation. Manfredini preferred over Dabo is just a ridiculous concept. I am not with those who say Delio has his favourites and chooses to pick them all too often because I genuinely believe and hope that this is not the case but what possessed him to do this? I can’t say Manfre was a disaster because he wasn’t…but only by his usual standards. When he sits in midfield with an equally ineffective Mauri and a lacklustre Ledesma alongside him, we have no chance of creating anything. That’s just the simple fact of the matter. A flued up Foggia was more incisive than the three of them combined.

We could make excuses all day long; the pitch was a mess, the weather was dire, we are out of form so on and so forth but Atalanta prevailed in the exact same conditions. The truth is, we were lacking in every department. Even the consistently immense Zarate and Lichtsteiner could do nothing to fuel the game. The attitude stank and I think it was visible to everyone. However, there were two men who epitomised everything negative about Lazio today; Carrizo and Rocchi. If anybody knows what JP was doing with the first Atalanta goal, jot down your answer on the back of a postcard and address it to Delio Rossi. Ok, Rozehnal slipped, call it unfortunate or just plain stupid but he lost the ball at his own feet. That’s fine, we are in trouble, time to panic. But when Floccari moves out wide and JP comes racing off his line as if he has saw some crazed Atalanta fan jump onto the field wielding a knife, there is nothing you can do but hope it pans out well. It didn’t. There was no real danger until Carrizo left his net and even then it was Floccari and Valdes against six onrushing sky blue shirts. Unfortunate or stupid, you decide.

The second goal was just a bad defensive mistake. I’m sure footage of the second goal will be used by coaches across the world to teach kids how not to play the offside trap but there you go. I still like that back four, in fact, I think it is going to work with time but in all honesty, we need JP to have the same faith in them that I do. Seeing JP glide across a quarter of the field to boot a ball out of play that Cribari had under control illustrates a severe absence of trust. I can only assume Rossi will now rush Siviglia back into the side, even if Seastiano is unable to move because the gaffer has surely lost faith in that backline. I think it’s sad but something needs to be done.

As for Rocchi, well I’m speechless. I can’t fault his effort or his heart but I saw no soul today. His leadership was non-existent, he had no influence in the game and for the first time ever, his legs looked to be gone. Perhaps he is still unfit, which is a possibility but I most definitely sense a decline. If Lazio are to move forward, we can’t have a captain who is going backwards. Rossi must be rethinking this as we speak and I can’t say I would be shocked if we see Tommaso depart in January. That man I saw today with the bald head was not Rocchi.

So where next? Milan in midweek, Inter next weekend, we need a reaction and fast. Remarkably, we still sit in a UEFA Cup spot but that is down to others misfortune. With tough fixtures ahead, I am afraid to say the only way we can go is down but hopefully an introduction of new blood, such as Diakite, can spur us on. It will be very interesting to see what happens now but something has got to give. What that is remains to be seen.

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