Delio Rossi calls for more width from
Lazio
Delio Rossi believes the reason for Lazios poor form lies in the
lack of wide men at his disposal, prompting a tactical rethink to
face Empoli. I expect to see an improvement, but we cant talk
about this game as a turning point, as that has to happen every
weekend, not just at the Stadio Castellani, said the Coach.
The Biancocelesti have struggled recently with just two points from
their last four games, although the Calciopoli reduction of their
11-point penalty to just three proved invaluable in pushing them up
the standings. The trouble is that were missing width at the
moment. Stephen Makinwa and Pasquale Foggia are still recovering
from long-term injuries and Valon Behrami is out.
Alberto Quadri is an interesting player we signed from Inter in
the Cesar Aparecido transfer. Hes still young, but has quality and
is more attacking than defensive. Rossi hinted at a tactical
change to make up for the absences, putting 23-year-old Quadri
behind the front two, creating a midfield of Stefano Mauri, Massimo
Mutarelli and Gaby Mudingayi, thereby leaving more space for
fullbacks Luciano Zauri and Massimo Oddo to push forward.
It has been another tense week in the capital, as the investigation
into financial irregularities saw the police confiscate 14.61 per
cent of Lazios shares. We always seem to end up dealing with
matters outside of the football world. I can only acknowledge the
event and keep working, as I dont even know quite what happened,
every week theres a new issue. Ive lost count by now.
Lazio squad: Ballotta, Baronio, Belleri, Bonetto, Cribari, Firmani,
Foggia, Inzaghi, Makinwa, Mauri, Mudingayi, Mutarelli, Oddo,
Pandev, Peruzzi, Quadri, Rocchi, Siviglia, Tare, Zauri.
Zaccheroni feels it is time to turn Torino's season
round
Alberto Zaccheroni feels the Messina test is the right moment to
turn Torinos season around, especially on home turf. The time has
come to turn this situation around, said the Coach. The fact that
so far weve picked up so little at the Olimpico cannot make us
happy. We want to change direction, but it all depends on the form
of the team right now.
The Granata have managed just one win, a draw and three defeats in
Turin this term, including a humiliating 4-0 drubbing at the hands
of his old club Lazio. There are times in which we deserved
something more, like the 1-0 loss to Fiorentina. In that case I
didnt feel I could tell my players that they had done anything
particularly wrong to merit that result.
The next visitors to the Northern club at the foot of the Alps are
Messina, making the trek all the way up the peninsula. They have a
better position in the table than ours. Messina try to play good
football and often succeed, plus Christian Riganò is the
Capocannoniere right now and is on great form, said Zac.
My side is also doing well and trained productively this week. I
expect to see more concentration in defence with a dynamic forward
line that attacks the space. Weve become more solid at the back,
but are still a little predictable upfront. Stefano Fiore,
Alessandro Rosina and Elvis Abbruscato could be dropped in favour
of Roberto Muzzi and Roberto Stellone.
Arrigoni feels his job is safe despite president's blasts
over his tactical choices
Daniele Arrigoni has laughed off reports his job on the Livorno
bench is in danger if he fails to beat Udinese. I havent had any
signals of this kind from President Aldo Spinelli so far, said the
Coach, who was repeatedly publicly lambasted by the patron for his
tactical choices.
I do my work and I know that the destiny of every tactician is
tied to the results he achieves. Arrigonis position was
substantially weakened after the 1-1 UEFA Cup draw away to Partizan
Belgrade on Thursday, a point earned with a last-gasp goal from
keeper Marco Amelia.
The UEFA Cup is a strain on football clubs, even a tax, as you
waste a lot of energy and hardly get any money from it, explained
Spinelli. However, I was upset at the home defeat to Glasgow
Rangers, as the 15,000 fans under the rain deserved more. In 1992 I
was President of Genoa and risked relegation because of the UEFA
Cup taking away all our energy. Serie B for Livorno would be a
disaster.
The club is currently four points adrift of fourth place, but
Spinelli famously fired Roberto Donadoni when Livorno were in sixth
position, so Arrigoni cant feel too secure. Spinelli is right
when he says the UEFA Cup saps a lot of energy, but thats a long
way from saying we should just give up on the competition
completely, responded the Coach.
To make matters worse, Livorno are facing a side that has won on
both its previous Serie A trips to the Stadio Picchi. Udinese have
international strikers like Antonio Di Natale and Vincenzo
Iaquinta, while theyve always made us suffer over the past few
years. We must try to play good football and rediscover our scoring
touch on home turf.
Reggina infuriated by penalty decision
Last nights derby defeat infuriated Reggina boss Walter Mazzarri,
who insisted his men were denied a clear penalty. The ball was
stopped voluntarily by Giuseppe Coluccis arm. There arent any
clearer penalties than that, slammed the Amaranto Coach after the
1-0 home loss to Catania. The decision penalised us in a moment of
the match where we were playing very well. The game, in my view,
was therefore decided by this incident.
It wasnt referee Paolo Tagliaventos only contentious call in the
fiery Calabria-Sicily derby at the Granillo. We couldve missed
the penalty, seeing as Armando Pantanelli saved everything, but in
reality it shouldve ended 0-0. There was an offside position on
Giorgio Coronas goal and we had a similar one disallowed against
Fiorentina.
This isnt the first time that Reggina have complained about
refereeing errors and Mazzarri was particularly angry, referring
back to the Calciopoli 15-point penalty inflicted on the club. We
are tired of this situation. There are too many mistakes penalising
us, but seeing as we play well and arent making too much of a fuss
over the Calciopoli situation, itd be nice if the officials were a
little more attentive. We accept the 15-point penalty, but deserve
more consideration during the actual games.
Catania, on the other hand, maintained there was no reason for this
controversy at the final whistle. There was no penalty, as it
certainly wasnt an intentional handling offence, assured Coach
Pasquale Marino. Its not easy to run with your arms always close
to your body, as youd need a Superman to co-ordinate himself in
that position. We werent awarded a similar spot-kick at San Siro,
so these are always open to interpretation. This time it went well
for us. As for the offside position, its possible.
The incriminated figure, Catania midfielder Colucci, also explained
that first half incident at the Stadio Granillo. The ball
certainly hit my hand, but I only saw it at the last second. I
didnt move my arm towards it at all. I was a little unbalanced,
almost on my knees, and couldnt adjust my position in time, but it
most definitely was not on purpose.
