Focus: How Inzaghi outsmarted Sarri, and made believers of us all | by Luca Capriotti
Lazio and Napoli may have tied last night, but Simone Inzaghi most definitely came away a winner. This goes beyond being able to take a point home from the always intimidating San Paolo, and more to do with how Lazio’s new Coach has shocked us all and outclassed Maurizio Sarri.
Had things gone wrong with Felipe Anderson in a box-to-box role, Dusan Basta playing in a three-man defence and Wallace being preferred over Wesley Hoedt, Rome would have been awash with furious criticism today.
Instead, some early jitters weren’t enough to unsettle Lazio, who kept Napoli at bay with Inzaghi’s calculated risk, and was able to hold out as a unit. The effort and belief aren’t just shared by the players, but by the fans, too, who gave Inzaghi a warm send-off at Termini Train station as his team headed down to Campania.
They believe in him too, now, while rival Sarri has a few too many malfunctioning cogs in his erstwhile impressive machine.
One of them, Pepe Reina, has shown that he’s lost something in terms of reaction time, as has referee Damato, who spared Marco Parolo’s blushes when he handled the ball in the box, a regular occurrence now for the Italy international.
Either way, mere months after taking over from Stefano Pioli, Inzaghi has made believers out of all of us. Long may he continue.
