“Exactly what we feared. Unfortunately. Roma enter the field too confident, a reckless attitude as to close the qualifying round in half an hour. Rambling on and slamming against a Lazio wall, built to defend but also to exploit the chasms left behind by Roma.
We had no doubt Lazio were going to play this way, their only weapon at their disposal was a counterattack, fools us to allow them to do their game and not realize that there are 180 minutes to play, so it was unnecessary and counterproductive to expose ourselves in that manner.
All we need was a little common sense, attack but keep your backline solid. Instead we have seen Roma attacking like a crazy bull; head down but predictable, unable to break through the Lazio defense. Every time they lost the ball Lazio were on the break with lots of space to put the Roma backline in huge trouble. And that’s exactly how they scored, twice.
This is a bad result for the return leg, but still not entirely compromised. Roma will need a different attitude; the only way forward is to find the team seen at the Meazza stadium in Milan, attentive and compact in defense, hitting and pounding in the middle, fast and effective in attack. We believe it. A goal in the first half would reopen the game. The defense will be the key. We must not concede.
Now, let’s turn the page quickly, get up right away with Napoli, there’s no time for anything else. As Spalletti said, there is no alibi; this is the time to see if we are really strong and mature. We want 11 lions on Saturday, as seen in Milan! Head down and ride on”.
Stefano Sale @asroma.ie