Things Can Only Get Better
By: cathal | October 28th, 2009Apologies in advance for the cheese below (my advice would be not to click the play button) but that’s the first thing (excuse the pun) that springs to mind when I contemplate the Bari debacle. There’s not many positives one can draw from a performance like that; it was bordering the unacceptable, however, I personally cannot condone the reaction from some of our tifosi at Formello yesterday. From what I can gather, Muslera, Cribari, Kolarov and Rocchi were all targeted and I fail to see how this helps the side in their preparation for Cagliari. They are professionals going through a rough patch, for me, they need no reminding of how bad they are playing but just need to be left alone to get on with the task in hand and if anything, we just support them from the Curva as best we can. These confrontations are to be expected but sport has changed and this is no longer the way to air your dirty laundry as far as I’m concerned.
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
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Category: Team News
Tags: 2-0, Bari, Cribari, Europa League, Formello, highlights, Kolarov, Lotito, Muslera, Pictures, Reaction, Rocchi, Serie A, Team NewsSubscribe
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Comments | Add your comment
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waste of the last 90 odd minutes of my life
Posted from
Ireland
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1 point off the drop – Not sure how (not to harp on it) not adequately replacing Ledesma Pandev and Lollo is seen as a means of improvement. Can we hit the panic button now?
Posted from
United States -
things did not get better
Posted from
United States -
Sack Ballardini now before it’s too late. The man is clearly out of his depth… we are a top 6 side NOT relegation battlers.
Posted from
Australia -
No, we aren’t a top 6 side. We ARE relegation battlers.
Kolarov was targeted cause he insulted fans who travelled 4 hours to watch a shithouse performance. The team deserved the confrontation at Formello, even if the fault (IMO) rests with management rather than them. We have 35 players, but no depth, and certainly not enough ability.
Posted from
Australia -
Cristiano, I agree with you that the team deserved the confrontation at Formello yesterday but to say that we are relegation battlers couldn’t be further from the truth! Look at our squad… yes we are missing key players in several positions (namely in the centre of defence) but we do have more than enough quality to cement a top six finish. Players like Muslera, Foggia, Zarate, Kolarov, Lichti, Matuzalem, Rocchi… these are players that make all the difference – they just need to be played in the correct formation to utilize their maximum capabilities… something that Ballardini has failed to do thus far.
Posted from
Australia -
Those players individually are top 6 quality. Zarate is scudetto quality. But as a team we are relegation fodder.
People complained about Delio. Under Delio we scored bucketloads and conceded bucketloads. Now we’ve tightened up a bit, but offer absolutely nothing going forward.
We have deficiencies. No creative influence in midfield that can change the game. No central defender. This means we simply lose games we otherwise wouldn’t.
Ballardini won’t get sacked. He just repeats the Lotito party line at every press conference, doesn’t push the boundaries by calling Ledesma, Stendardo and Firmani. It’s a puppet regime.
All that considered, we will finish 12th-16th this season. It takes more than talent and potential to finish top 6. In fact, I believe that magic from those players Franco listed will be the only thing saving us from playing in the cadetti next season.
Overreaction?? Maybe, but Serie A doesn’t respect reputations. If you aren’t getting results, no matter your history or your potential, you risk relegation.
Posted from
Australia -
I can no longer play the blame game; it’s a culmination of factors that is dragging us down.
As for tonight, plenty of effort and heart but absolutely no direction or channeling of such desire; yes, the fans have a right to make their feelings known at Formello but it did the team no good in their preparation for a game we could otherwise have won. We now have a real crisis in confidence on our hands and a problem the Formello incidents only exacerbated in my honest opinion.
Proper review tomorrow, hopefully with a few other posts also.
Posted from
Ireland -
livorno is the only team to score less then we have…its pretty pathetic considering our strikers…balardini really has to get a formation that will work
Posted from
Ireland -
This year it’s going to be a relegation derby. 7 goals in 10 games it’s something. We can’t score, we can’t defend. It’s going to be interesting.
Posted from
United States
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