Former Lazio manager Eugenio Fascetti believes Maurizio Sarri is ‘an excellent coach’ who will also cure the Biancocelesti’s ”blackouts”. Sarri led Lazio to a second place finish last season, and while their 2023-24 campaign is yet to take off, Fascetti believes he will bring out the right character in his players. Speaking with La Gazzetta dello Sport, the former coach was full of praise for Sarri, pointing to his successes at every club he’s managed:
What do you think of Sarri?
“I don’t think there is room for personal judgements, the results speak for themselves. Sarri is objectively a very good coach. Wherever he has gone he has done well. His teams always play good football, even if they are built differently and have different characteristics. His year with Juventus was hotly tipped as unsatisfactory, but after his departure the Bianconeri struggled more and more each year to get results. And in Turin no one has won the Scudetto since. With Napoli he came close to the Scudetto he probably deserved, with Chelsea he won the Europa League, with Lazio he achieved the best league result in the new century’.
Do you particularly appreciate him for his teams’ offensive play?
“No, I appreciate him for everything. In football there is no offensive play or defensive play. Football is about balance, which is the most beautiful quality of teams. You cannot expect to go on the pitch and attack. The opponents don’t necessarily allow it. You have to be able to defend as carefully as you attack. Because sooner or later everyone has to suffer. Lazio holds up well in difficult moments, the match in Naples proves it”.
Do you see growth in Lazio?
“This is also objective. Sometimes they lose a bit of concentration against teams considered lesser, as happened with Lecce and Genoa. However, the team is mature, it knows how to bring out character when needed. And there are no longer the defensive lapses of previous years.
How do you explain the blackouts, though?
“Difficult to say. But Sarri will solve this one too, after he’s solved other problems.
Humanly speaking, does he seem the right person for a place Rome?
“He has coached in very difficult clubs. He has personality, he takes matters head-on. So I don’t have big doubts about that honestly. And the results, I repeat, are clearly proving him right’.
