Lotito: "Show some balls!"
Lazio are in a spot of trouble. Following a convincing 3-0 home win against Torino, the Biancocelesti have let in five goals in two games, blown a lead against Atalanta and been embarassed at home by Milan. Having started the season poorly, too, Stefano Pioli and his men are under fire again from fans and media alike.
Chairman Claudio Lotito, however, has been even more vitriolic, bringing out his inner radio caller by turning up to Lazio's training ground in Formello and giving them the hairdryer treatment.
"It's a disgrace!," he told players on Monday. "You have the technical quality, you all do! The individual doesn't win, the collective does, you have to help each other out! It doesn't matter what it says on the shirt, but the badge!"
"The Lazio president then got anatomical, telling his players "to change their attitudes, and show some balls! We've faced weaker teams who can do it and leave nothing on the pitch. You haven't!"
Lazio face Roma this weekend, who despite losing to Inter on Saturday are still second in the table and were coming off a five-game winning streak.
With turning up to the training ground and yelling a hallowed tradition in Italy (and especially Rome), Lotito is following in the footsteps of the fan who gave his team a shellacking following their 2-1 loss to Atalanta.
A Lazio fan yelled at team in training: "You're 11 choirboys, Roma are going to eat us up if you play like that!" #SerieA #calcio #RomaLazio
— Calciomercatocom(En) (@CmdotCom_En) 29 Ottobre 2015
Divine intervention may well be necessary. But it is a derby....
