Marco Baroni’s Lazio made a winning start to their Europa League campaign with a convincing -. The Biancocelesti secured the win thanks to a brace from Dia and a goal from Dele-Bashiru. In the post-match interview, Baroni discussed his team’s performance.
The Lazio coach began by commenting on the match: “We are trying to play proactive and offensive football. The team must have the mindset to attack and go for goal. The players know this, and we are working on it. The balance is simple as long as we work to support four offensive players. From our perspective, we see the numbers, and we are the second team that has conceded the fewest goals after Juventus. I’m happy with the team’s performance and also with some individual performances.”
Baroni continued, discussing Dele-Bashiru’s development: “When I say Dele-Bashiru needs to be built, I mean he needs to fill the game and have more tactical awareness. If he develops this characteristic, he could become a very strong midfielder.”
The former Verona coach also commented on the defense’s performance, Noslin’s red card, and Tchaouna’s display: “I considered putting in Guendouzi instead of Noslin. These are young players who have grown a lot, and I thought he might find a goal. He made a mistake, but he’s a player who will certainly improve. Today we conceded a bit more than usual, but I always saw good recoveries from my players. These are international-level matches, and it wasn’t easy. I’m used to playing and working with young players. I take full responsibility for what happens on the field, but I also make them responsible. Young players need to be launched, and to do that, you also need to take some pressure off them when they arrive at such an important club. With young players, you always need to help them improve. The same goes for Tchaouna.”
Baroni concluded the interview by expressing his thoughts on Lazio’s offensive phase: “I must say that I’ve never coached a team with so much quality. That’s why I’m proposing mobility and a lot of play. This team is emerging. Everything that is done is not imposed on the team, but I try to ensure that there is a shared understanding of the work we do. This is a team that has a culture of work and has been available from the start. There’s a lot of work to do because we’ve just started, but with this willingness, we can achieve a lot.”
