Yahoo Sports Baroni: ‘I saw the real Lazio in second half, avoidable Roma goals’
Marco Baroni explains what went wrong for Lazio in the Derby della Capitale defeat to Roma, conceding ‘two avoidable goals,’ but was reassured by the second half performance.
The Aquile are still having a far more successful campaign than their bitter rivals and remain now 12 points clear of them in the Serie A table, as well as top of the Europa League standings.
However, the bragging rights for the Derby della Capitale go to the Giallorossi, who scored two early goals through Lorenzo Pellegrini and Alexis Saelemaekers, surging into the 2-0 lead within 18 minutes.
“We conceded two avoidable goals, it was a pity. The team lacked the right tempo and wasn’t effective enough down the wings, while we need a player in the trequartista role and that was lacking in the first half,” Baroni told DAZN.
“We weren’t fast enough moving the ball around and I feel that was the main explanation. In the second half, it was a real Lazio performance. Now we are disappointed for our fans, but I saw my team in the second half, so we must rebuild from there.”
Check the Football Italia Player Ratings for Roma 2-0 Lazio
Baroni stands up for Lazio choices
Baroni made a double change at half-time, introducing Boulaye Dia and Loum Tchaouna for Fisayo Dele-Bashiru and Gustav Isaksen. Does he regret the initial choices?
“We are struggling in attack at the moment due to injuries. Pedro is out, Noslin was in no shape to play either, so when you start with four strikers, you need to have options off the bench too.
“We thought a midfielder would give us more stability, but we weren’t moving the ball around quickly enough and the two early goals made it even more difficult. At half-time, we talked and corrected a few things, we went back to raising the tempo and attacking down the flanks, which are elements this team simply cannot do without.
“In the second half, we controlled the match and took the initiative, which is what we usually do.”
Does Baroni feel that Lazio need a different player for that supporting role behind the striker and could he be signed in January?
“The club and director are looking around, but we are also at the same time trying to improve the players we have. Dele-Bashiru is still learning the position and how to control the ball between the lines. We are also missing Matias Vecino for a long time, but that must not be an alibi,” continued the coach.
“As I said, our tactical identity is the most important thing and I saw that in the second half.”
Despite dominating possession and creating several chances, Lazio failed to close the gap and the scoreline remained the same, with the tension getting to Taty Castellanos for a stoppage-time red card following his coming together with Mats Hummels.
Now Castellanos, Mattia Zaccagni and Mario Gila will all be suspended for the next match against Como, forcing Baroni to reshuffle.
