Baroni sent ‘signal’ to aggressive Lazio and trusts Nuno Tavares

Marco Baroni praises Nuno Tavares for providing two assists in Lazio’s 2-2 draw with Milan, acknowledging he ‘sent a signal’ with his picks to be aggressive and attacking.

The Aquile had gone behind early on to a Strahinja Pavlovic header, turning it around in the space of four minutes with almost identical goals from Nuno Tavares assists, by Taty Castellanos and Boulaye Dia, before Rafael Leao’s equaliser for 2-2.

“The team had an excellent second half, we pushed hard. Clearly, we weren’t ideal in the first half and need a little time to get all the new players settled,” Baroni told DAZN.

“We have to improve when we are aggressive in the press and controlling the transition, but Milan have a lot of physicality and pace, we know there are risks in the way we play and our players have to embrace that.”

Lazio made four changes from the side that lost 2-1 to Udinese last week, introducing strikers Dia and Loum Tchaouna, as well as Nuno Tavares and Manuel Lazzari as the full-backs.

“With four attacking players, I wanted to send a message and I think it was received. We take risks, we need to find the right balance, but we have to be aggressive and attacking. Possession must not be just for its own sake, but to create chances and above all get bodies in the box. That is where we also need to do better.”

Baroni still finding his new Lazio shape

The Aquile lost players like Ciro Immobile, Luis Alberto and Felipe Anderson this summer, bringing in numerous new players, so they are still trying to find their feet.

“We lost some important individuals this summer, but we have a great unit and the team must have belief in itself. In order to push hard, we all need to work hard, and those who do that will get their place on the pitch,” continued Baroni.

“We played to win, but against this Milan side you cannot afford mistakes, and we also knew that we had a slight disadvantage on set plays, but I preferred to take that approach.”

Matias Vecino was sent to the bench this time, so Nicoló Rovella and Matteo Guendouzi were the midfielders to provide more grit, but above all former Arsenal left-back Nuno Tavares was decisive with two assists.

“Rovella sent an important signal with his high press, I really liked that and he was aggressive, it was what I wanted to see. The players must take responsibility and be aggressive.

“I think Nuno Tavares had not started a match since February, so that was a risk too, but he has quality and we want to get him into the best physical shape,” concluded former Verona coach Baroni.

“We’ve put in a lot of crosses from the right so far this season, so we needed someone like Nuno Tavares to push down the left too. Luca Pellegrini can play that role too and we’ll improve as the campaign goes on.”