Rome 26 April 2024 – Championship match at home Lazioafter digesting the scorching elimination in Italian Cup against the Juventusthe Biancocelesti host the Verona and they will try to seize the chance of a revival against the Scaligeri. A challenge to close the gap on fifth place and add some spice to Rome And Atalanta in the race for a spot in the next one Champions League. To present this challenge valid for the thirty-fourth day of A league was Tudor at the press conference. Here are the words of the Croatian coach of the Biancocelesti.
How did the team recover from the match against Juve on a physical and mental level?
“Let’s see today, we did two days of unloading. We only have one training session to prepare for a super important race, it closes a cycle of many races in a few days. I consider it the most difficult, but we can’t make mistakes, all the points are important and tomorrow we need to score points.”
How are the injured? Verona made you grow as a coach, what match are you expecting?
“He asked me four questions in one (laughs ed.). The Verona it’s a tough team and on track, tomorrow will be difficult for us. For their position in the standings it is important, in Italy the matches are all difficult. I still have to evaluate the injured today, some have recovered, others are halfway there, I can’t say more. Verona was important for my path, as were the other experiences I have had in my career. In this work every step is important, even the beginning with the students of Hajduk Split is important, as will be those of the future”.
After a month in Lazio, what is the biggest difficulty and what satisfies you the most?
“There is no greater difficulty, the difficulties are always linked to the few training sessions and the knowledge of the team which is still lacking. The good thing is the disposition of the players, I found them all very willing to not make any mistakes. In training this month nothing was wrong.”
Were you pleasantly surprised by the way the team played on Tuesday? “No. I wouldn’t give up anything this month, I can’t say that now we had a great match on Tuesday unlike the first victory over Juventus. Of the two, for me the first victory is better, achieved with 5-6 training sessions and without many national teams. The first one was more difficult for me, but the important thing is always the path that is being traced. We talk about tactics, systems, but there are other things in between, mentality for example, which is the thing we need to work on every day, from training sessions to attitudes in matches.”
Does Cristante’s goal yesterday against Roma reduce their hopes of fifth place? Do you have any regrets about the Turin semi-final, in particular the first leg?
“I don’t agree on which match we played better, there are always regrets. I also regretted yesterday’s training, it’s always right to criticize and self-criticize, otherwise we won’t grow. I’m aware of all the mistakes made in this month, it helps me to understand where we went wrong. It’s like the general after the war, you always have to do an analysis and understand what happened. Know the internal dynamics, there are many things that affect performance and results. the key is the time we use to grow Rome I haven’t seen it, right now all the points are important. We can’t influence the other matches, there’s no point thinking about it and wasting energy. The energy must be spent on our team and our matches.”
What room for improvement can Castellanos have? Will we be able to see it together with Immobile tomorrow? “You can see them together in a small moment of the match where you have to recover the result, when everything changes a bit. There is a system that is suitable for certain players and sometimes the more players who have goals in their legs, the more they help to score , but sometimes putting in all those attackers doesn’t mean you’re more dangerous, maybe you haven’t prepared this thing and therefore you can’t be dangerous.”
We haven’t seen much of Pellegrini in recent weeks. Is he behind his teammates? Can he play tomorrow? “Pellegrini trains well, he’s been out with an injury and others have done well while he wasn’t there. He might play, he might not play like everyone else.”
Is growing the team in terms of mentality?
“Everyone sees the mentality in a different way, the mentality is part of the values. These are the values that a coach wants to transmit, to which are added aggression, malice and the desire to always do something more. These values are important not only in football but in all sports. Footballers are first and foremost men.”
How do you see Zaccagni? More winger or more attacking midfielder near the striker?
“Zaccagni he can be a winger, he can play wide. As a fifth yes and no, he can struggle because he has to sacrifice a lot. He can also play behind the striker and therefore closer to the goal. For us he is an important player and we missed him a lot. He has demonstrated his importance in the years spent at Lazio, with goals and assists, he can give us an important hand. He has only done two training sessions with us, he won’t play from the start, but he can come off the bench.”
Do you have the Champions League as your goal? Your opinion on Mandas?
“Mandas he’s doing well, I always say that when a goalkeeper doesn’t make mistakes that lead to you conceding goals he’s doing well. We chose to build slightly less from the bottom so as not to put him in difficulty and risk less, he always responded very well. I have no goals, I haven’t set any and neither does society. The goal is to do well in all the matches, there are usually important differences between the teams, but at the end of the season the difference disappears. I don’t know if it’s easier to face Verona who have to save themselves or a team fighting for Europe. In the end these things cancel out and it’s up to us to do well tomorrow.”
How do you interpret the team’s racing data? Could this be the cause of these recent muscle problems? “The data must always be interpreted in the best possible way, including the physical ones. There is the running volume, the speed and then there are the individual duels. In our football there is much more dueling, I think there is also more intensity compared to before, where there was more volume which is equally important.”
What did you like most tactically and what needs to be improved after a month in Lazio?
“It will take more time to talk about it, from a tactical point of view I liked everything, I liked the tactical interpretation of the team.”
Is there a chance to see Isaksen for a few more minutes? “We will evaluate Felipe today, yesterday he ran in sneakers, he suffered a knock and he is a fundamental player for us. Isaksen trains very well, he is a player who is always focused and we will see him at work today.”
