One Name: Inzaghi

By: cathal | October 9th, 2008

It has all gone quiet now on the Lazio front and that is mainly due to the current international break. Don’t get me wrong, international football is fantastic but we are only six games into Serie A and we are already on our second international break. In my opinion, it is killing the vibe and the enthusiasm. Perhaps I would welcome it a bit more if we were not…ahem…top of the table!

I guess the timing is fine for us. The Lecce game could be read as the first indication that fatigue was going to affect results. It could also be seen as a minor mishap and the break can either reflect or deflect focus onto that game. Hopefully we are tough enough mentally to get that out of our system. However, the break has certainly got people talking about one man; Simone Inzaghi. It seems that many are somewhat fascinated by his “comeback” and just judging on the basis of the comments left here, the guy appears to have caught the fans’ attention. The big question now is, what can we expect of Simone from here on in?

I am immensely biased in my views of the guy. He will always have my respect; he is the Scudetto winner in the squad, he has a couple of Coppas under his belt and he has remained with us through thick and thin. What more can you ask for in a footballer? I think in terms of professionalism he is as good as anyone can get (although not perfect, as certain utterances during the Lecce goal celebration illustrated). However, footballing ability is a different matter and what Simone can offer on occasion is different to what he can do on a regular basis.

Let me explain. Simone has never been that prolific of a goalscorer. Of course, he is a poacher and he gets on the end of things but even in his heyday, his goal to game ratio was in the region of Pandev’s and Rocchi’s last season. So it is difficult to find a case to argue that he could once again become a regular, especially when you consider that he has a habit of banging in a load of goals in the one game; take the 5-1 win against Marseille in 2000 as an example. It is that kind of form that makes Inzaghi a very intriguing bench option. So what if he has just ended a four year goal drought? The point is, it’s over and we need a wildcard as Makinwa doesn’t look to be ending his own goal drought anytime soon. I think the only shame with Simone is that he lost his way when he should have been in his prime and thus he and us suffered. Now we’re back, he’s back and we’re on the up. Quite fitting, don’t you think?

As there is a severe lack of Lazio-related news at the minute, in future posts, I will continue to look back upon the last few weeks (without dwelling on it to the point where I am boring myself) whilst also looking ahead to the next few weeks and what lies in store for us. Of course, if there’s anything to report, I will report it. As for tomorrow, I will make a post on the man who some love to hate and others hate to love; Cristian Ledesma. Forza Lazio!