Having secured a spot in Europe, Lazio’s top brass must now dig deep to prepare their matchday squad for a three-cup calendar.
Liverpool’s Lesson
The Rome club’s remarkable rise must now be inevitably hampered by their biggest challenge yet: to put up a challenge on European and domestic fronts.
Their enviable finishing position (3rd), their attacking flair (only one goal off Juventus’ 72) and their sought-after superstar (Felipe Anderson) recall a similar situation this time a year ago, but at a different club: Brendan Rogers’ league runners-up Liverpool.
Liverpool, too, had made full use of a season without even Europa League; they, too, had upset the league’s established forces by leaping from outside of the top six into the top three. Forced to cash in on Luis Suarez – just as Lazio may be letting go of Anderson – and with the influx of cash from a high finish, they went and bought: Balotelli, Lambert, Lovren, Lallana, Can, Moreno, Markovic. €110m.
In the space of three months, Rodgers’ men went from the most exciting attacking side in the league to the most frustrating: with Sturridge sidelined, the remaining strikers could only muster eight goals between them all year. Lovren proved to be a pig in a poke; the rest of the defence was as leaky as an industrial colander. They ended sixth after a late surge, but crashed out of both cups.
Now Lazio must take from Liverpool’s fate one lesson: that to plunge into Europe without a Europe-ready squad is as detrimental to your continental campaign as it is to your domestic one.
Galling though it may be, Lazio will also want to look across the city for an example. Roma fleshed out their squad with a few canny low-cost deals last summer, though strangely nearly lost it all only once they had been relieved of Champions League duty. Whether the giallorossi’s season can be considered a success or not, Lazio would surely rather emulate that than follow in Liverpool’s footsteps.
What Lazio can learn from their neighbours is that the season after a boom should be seen primarily as an opportunity to build, not win. Time after time, clubs around Europe have demonstrated that it is far easier to succeed domestically when that is your only focus; to do so while putting up a fight on the continent is a far more difficult task.
Therefore Lazio’s priority should be looking to consolidate their place in Italy’s top four teams, laying down the foundations now for a competitive decade and using their explosion this season to begin a more stable upwards trajectory.
Strategy: Quality and Quantity
In order to increase the squad’s depth, sporting director Igli Tare will be looking to bring in both quantity and quality.
Quantity, because reserve players are an invaluable asset with three fixtures a week. The inevitable onslaught of injuries which every good manager must reckon with can only be absorbed with reliable older faces who are happy to sit on the bench, or promising young names ready to work hard for manager Pioli’s nod.
Youngsters such as Onazi and Cataldi may be fighting to fill the gap left by Biglia, the World Cup finalist wanted by Real Madrid. To add to a talented pool of midfielders, Tare is working on bringing in Jose Mauri from Parma or two names who caught the eye in Rio: Jordy Clasie and Granit Xhaka of Holland and Switzerland respectively.
Replacing Felipe Anderson, also sought after by big clubs, could be Guingamp’s Claudio Beauvue, Liverpool’s Fabio Borini or even Dani Osvaldo, whose entourage has reportedly been contacted. Keita Balde, already on the roster, will hope to make the step in quality that Lazio fans have been waiting for to fill Anderson’s boots.
In the defence, Luca Caldirola of Werder Bremen and Dória of Marseille have been suggested but the only figure likely to alter the current back four would be Wesley Hoedt of AZ Alkmaar.
The post Mercato Preview: Lazio Must Learn From Liverpool’s Mistakes appeared first on Italian Football Daily.
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