A quick word...

Just thought a post of anticipation ahead of tonight's Derby della Capitale was in need. After a much more convincing performance on Sunday against a strong Sampdoria team, we have every right to feel confident ahead of tonight's cup tie. It seems that there will not be a completely first-string side starting for us tonight, with Berni stepping in, joined by Gonzalez and Kozak, replacing Muslera, Mauri and Floccari. A boost is the return of Biava and Radu, who can reclaim their places at the expense of Diakite and Scaloni. I'm particularly excited about Gonzalez being given this chance, a start in the derby may be just what he needs to start to make his mark at our club. Diakite deserves praise for his performance on Sunday, although not the best with the ball at his feet he put in a solid defensive display and looked good when bombing forward in a way reminiscent of Lucio. Hopefully he will be given a chance to realise his potential.

I'll be back to report on tonight's clash later in the week, but for now we can be assured that although it's not a first-string team tonight everyone out there will be giving it their all to claim bragging rights in the Eternal City. For now.....

 

FORZA LAZIO!

NON MOLARRE MAI!

Time to rethink?

Sunday saw Lazio crash to an unexpected, although not necessarily surprising, 2-1 defeat at home to lowly Lecce. After the previous stalemate away to Genoa, this seemed the perfect opportunity for the boys in blue to pull out a top performance against a technically inferior opponent. This didn't happen. The reason I've written that I'm not too surprised by this is that it has got to the point where Reja's tactics are all too predictable, something De Canio worked out effectively. I didn't manage to see the game, but from what I have heard and read it was far from impressive and the need for a natural goalscorer is evident. Luck may not have been on our side, as Muslera's own goal was unlucky and Zarate couldn't convert a golden chance, but you make your own luck and it seems to me we need some more creativity from Reja to renew confidence. One of the major reasons for our explosive start to the season was the form of Hernanes and particularly Mauri. Hernanes now seems to get marked out of every game, and Mauri's form has dipped over the winter break. This has been widely noticed, leading to the appearance of some worrying articles. Maybe a new signing could spark another charge up the table, the way Hernanes' arrival did.

Other results:

Bari 0-2 Bologna

Catania 1-2 Inter

Cesena 0-0 Genoa

Chievo 0-0 Palermo

Fiorentina 3-2 Brescia

Lazio 1-2 Lecce

Milan 4-4 Udinese

Napoli 3-0 Juventus

Parma 1-2 Cagliari

Sampdoria 2-1 Roma

Back to the mercato.

The major talking point of my last post was the possibility of signing Roque Santa Cruz, a player linked with us for some time. However, he has returned to Blackburn Rovers as he feels settled in England and doesn't want a move away. We are now reportedly on the verge of a deal to sign Genoa's 29 year-old Giuseppe Sculli. He has said he doesn't want a loan move, and has been impressed with Reja, making this move look more than likely. To be honest, Sculli is not a player I know too much about, but am happy to give him a chance. I doubt he will contribute a vast amount of goals, but may prove useful to bring something a bit more fresh and unpredictable to our forward line. In my opinion it's also time we started using Gonzalez and Bresciano more, who have hardly been given a chance and are basically new signings themselves. Gonzalez particularly is a player who has impressed me when given a chance, and as he is still widely unknown he may be just what we need to start surprising teams again.

Other transfer gossip has included a possible Liverpool move for Mauro Zarate, apparently valued by Lotito at 16.5 million Euros. I don't honestly see this happening, I believe that any sale of Zarate will wait until the summer, and Lotito won't let him go easily. There has also been talk (again) of a move for David Trezeguet, although his wage demands are extortionate and apparently Ronaldo (fat one, not Cristiano) has urged him to join him at Brazilian side Corinthians. Watch this space.

Now, Sunday. Sampdoria, even without Cassano, have an extremely talented squad, technically superior to, for example, Lecce. Worryingly, Reja has reportedly chosen the same 4-2-3-1 formation as usual, with the only change being Diakite replacing Biava. I'll reserve judgement until the full time whistle, but hopefully Reja has reason to believe something has changed for this shape to work again. In fairness, with Rocchi out for around 3 weeks, he doesn't have many other options. Let's hope a striker arrives soon.

Forza Lazio!

Back on the road

 

Thursday night saw the return of Serie A to our lives after a brief winter break. In the Lazio camp, not much has changed. Fans and journalists alike anticipated an imminent move to the Olimpico from Manchester City's estranged Paraguayan hitman Roque Santa Cruz. So far, this move hasn't materialised. We were sniffing around in the summer for Cruz who, although not the player he once was, is still a top quality striker with lots of experience to add to the bargain. He seems to have found himself at the wrong club at the wrong time, as Man City continue their 'try to sign any player on form in football' policy by acquiring the signature of the Hungarian Edin Dzeko. How he will fare against Premiership defences and competing with the likes of Adebayor, Tevez and Balotelli remains to be seen.

The main argument amongst Laziale continues to be whether we need such an impressive player as Cruz and whether it would start to bring up dressing room issues. Reja's preferred system is now a 4-2-3-1, meaning with Cruz signed we would have Floccari, Cruz, Rocchi and Kozak all fighting for the same position. These players wouldn't be content with a seat on the bench. Earlier targets tipped by the press included Man Utd's Federico Macheda, who has now joined Sampdoria on a 6-month loan. Another player endlessly linked with the Biancocelesti has been Hugo Almeida, who has now moved to Turkey from Werder Bremen. To be honest, I'm happy to see both these players go elsewhere as I think Macheda would prove ineffective (he may well prove me wrong at Samp) and I've never particularly rated Almeida. As for my view on Santa Cruz, I would be too excited to dismiss signing a player of his stature, as long as it doesn't mean a tactical change, let alone a change of team atmosphere. The disaster of last season is a good enough example of what happens with unhappy players. However, Reja has come out saying that he doubts we will make any major changes during the January window, so we will have to play the waiting game for the time being. At the end of the month I intend to produce a piece on the transfer window and what it means for the club, as well as rounding up the major moves around Italy.

So, Serie A results on Thursday were as follows:

Bologna 1-1 Fiorentina

Brescia 1-2 Cesena

Cagliari 0-1 Milan

Genoa 0-0 Lazio

Juventus 1-4 Parma

Inter 3-1 Napoli

Lecce 0-1 Bari

Palermo 3-0 Sampdoria

Roma 4-2 Catania

Udinese 2-0 Chievo

 

It is a testament to the great job we have been doing this season that I can feel disappointed taking a point away from the Marassi. Genoa have a very strong squad and are likely candidates to be fighting for European places at the end of season. Although admittedly the satisfaction of beating them while under Ballardini would have been great. Napoli losing is good news, but with Roma, Inter, Milan and Palermo all winning, it seems that our fight for a Champions League place will go right to the wire. Also worth a mention is Juve's hilariously humiliating hammering (apologies for the cheesy journalism) at home to Parma. I'm sure most people can sit back and have a moment of quiet satisfaction when a result like that comes through, and huge credit to Parma who are proving themselves to be quite a force.

Elsewhere, the Premiership continues to fascinate as Chelsea crash to Wolves, putting Ancelotti's job on the line, Liverpool crash to Blackburn, leaving the unfortunate Hodgson without a job, and West Ham are well and truly battered by Newcastle, surely putting Grant's job well and truly over the line. It is an incredibly open affair at the moment, Ferguson's Man Utd machine again confounding the critics to march on with their 'unbeaten' banner waving above their heads. Man City finally seem to play as a team, credit to former Lazio legend Mancini for this achievement (Tevez probably deserves some sort of medal as well), but the next few months will be the judge of whether they can be considered real title contenders. Arsenal continue to play beautiful football, can this be the season Wenger's young squad finally discover consistency? When it comes to the beautiful game, their North London rivals Spurs are beginning to compete with their neighbours in the entertainment stakes as the inspired Rafael Van der Vaart and Gareth Bale combine to create some of the most dazzling goals I can remember.

On top of all this Anglo-Italian drama, we also have the second round of the Champions League approaching, with some mouth-watering ties such as Milan vs. Spurs, Inter-Bayern and a repeat of the attack-minded clash of Arsenal-Barcelona. All in all, a lot to look forward to in the world of calcio.

I'll be back to analyse tomorrow's match at home to Lecce, an opponent to be underestimated at our own peril. It will be a tough encounter, but hopefully one that we can get a solid three points from and hope to build another good run of form and get 2011 off to a bang.

Forza Lazio!

Benvenuto!

A warm welcome to all calcio fans to what is my first of (hopefully) many posts. I've set up this blog on New Year's Day, finally realising an ambition I have had for quite some time now, to write frequently and in detail on my beloved Lazio and all things calcio. I thought that the best way to start would be to introduce myself and explain my aspirations for this blog.

My name is Alasdair Mackenzie, a 21 year old student from Scotland studying English Literature and Italian at the University of Edinburgh. I have been an avid, bordering on obsessive, fan of Lazio for the last nine years or so, ever since I saw that wonderful team of Nesta, Nedved, Crespo et al in action against Leeds in the UEFA cup. People in the UK always struggle to understand how I can follow an Italian club so loyally, but as all laziale will know; once you are hooked you are hooked for life.

As for this blog, one of my biggest inspirations to get started has been the consistently fantastic work of all the guys over at The Lazio Offside. If you have not already, please check out Lazio.theoffside.com as they really do a great job. For this reason I have decided I can't possibly attempt to emulate the Offside boys, so will not be focussing my blog entirely on Lazio. I will focus the blog around what is going on in the blue side of Rome, but also submit articles on goings on around Serie A, and European football in general. Whatever is going on in the world of football that I feel the need to complain/rejoice about, you can be assured it will be up here!

That is all for now, but I plan on getting my first real post up soon- the January transfer mercato. So far, Reja's striker dilemma doesn't seem to be getting any clearer as Santa Cruz has decided to play around with us one more time, and ex-Lazio man Macheda seems on the verge of joining Sampdoria.

Please spread the word to anyone who may be interested in a new Biancocelesti-flavoured blog and I'll be back soon.

Forza Lazio!