Official Thread: Lazio's England tour

[King Italy]

Lazio players have been given a couple of days off and will tomorrow, Sunday, leave Italy to go to England where the pre-season will continue with some training sessions and 4 friendly games.

On Tuesday the first, against Liverpool.

[Always Laziali]

i hope it shows on tv

[Petko]

Stefano Fiore
Giuliano Giannichedda
Diego Simeone
Dejan Stankovic
Paolo Negro
Dino Baggio
Fernando Couto
Emanuele Concetti
Jaap Stam
Guerino Gottardi
Cesar
Hernan Crespo
Claudio Lopez
Massimo Oddo
Fabio Liverani
Roberto Baronio
Simone Inzaghi
Giuseppe Favalli
Alessandro Nesta
Giuseppe Pancaro
Francesco Colonnese
Angelo Peruzzi
Luca Marchegiani.

Restano a lavorare a Formello Sinisa Mihajlovic, Lucas Castroman, Pablo Sorin e Emanuele Pesaresi.


So, looks like we won't be seeing Sorin again, he will be remaining at Formello along side Mihajlovic, Castroman and Pesaresi

[Always Laziali]

are these players confirmed going to be in lazio this coming season

[valdanito_10]

damn it! im really waiting for when sorin plays with the side

[Always Laziali]

hey are you guys watching the match live from the internet ?

[King Italy]

Steven Gerrard and Emile Heskey will miss Liverpool's clash with Lazio on Tuesday night but Sami Hyypia and Vladimir Smicer both return.

Reds midfielder Gerrard has been ruled out of the pre-season friendly against the Italian Serie A outfit with a thigh strain, whilst Heskey will not be risked after he picked up a slight hamstring strain during Liverpool's 1-1 draw with Wolfsburg on Saturday.

Skipper Hyypia missed that game with an ankle knock, but he will play on Tuesday, as will midfielder Smicer, who also did not feature at the weekend.

Gerard Houllier is expected to give most of his squad a run-out in Liverpool's only home friendly of the summer, with Michael Owen set to start after his 45-minute run-out against Wolfsburg. El-Hadji Diouf, Alou Diarra and Bruno Cheyrou will also make their home debuts in front of a virtual sell-out at Anfield.

Lazio are set to include Argentinian striker Hernan Crespo and Dutch defender Jaap Stam in their squad, with the former Manchester United man assured of a hot reception from the Kop.

[Always Laziali]

any latest news about the probable line ups ?

[King Italy]

For the past twelve months, Lazio has been a club in turmoil. An abysmal season on all fronts has been followed by a summer in which they have desperately been trying to find the funds necessary for the club to be granted the license necessary to participate in next season’s Serie A. Italy being Italy, the fans responded by revolting against the club.

In what apparently is the universal procedure to appease irate fans, coach Alberto Zaccheroni was sacked with Roberto Mancini appointed to replace him. Hugely popular with the fans, Mancini was Sven Goran Eriksson’s assistant during the 1999-2000 season when Lazio won the league title.

It is a risky decision for both parties. Despite his popularity, Mancini is a relatively unproven coach whose only experience in the Serie A ended in a sacking with his team bottom of the league. For Mancini, there is the danger that Lazio could transform into another Fiorentina where the huge expectations aren’t matched by the players at his disposal.

In reality, Mancini’s appointment wasn’t based solely on his relationship with the supporters. He is highly charismatic, very well prepared and has the ability to motivate players. He’ll need all these talents to manage this Lazio side which is struggling without a real playmaker (hence the attempts to take back Juan Sebastian Veron) and with a number of disenchanted players (Nesta, Poborsky and Crespo in the fore).

[castroman]

where did u read that

[King Italy]

I read it at Laziomania, but Mattias probably got it from another site

[Always Laziali]

but some news on lm is not reliable

[valdanito_10]

what reliability do u need on that?

[Always Laziali]

i mean transfers rumours

[valdanito_10]

and how do u link this to that?

[castroman]

this tour m,ust be of great experience

[King Italy]

The next game of the England tour is against Derby County I think at Pride Park on Monday night beginning at 19:45.

Gmaes after that are against Blackburn on Friday and then Tottenham on the Sunday.

[Always Laziali]

i ' ll be watching those games as well

[King Italy]

What channel Darran? ESPN?

[Always Laziali]

no supersports plus

[King Italy]

ok then

[valdanito_10]

i get them on espn! alll itaian friendlies

[Always Laziali]

your espn is great dude

[King Italy]

I will be getting ESPN from September 1 on my Pay-TV service

[Always Laziali]

great for ya dude

[Petko]

It's half-time at the moment and we are up 1-0 thanks to a goal by Gottardi in the 40th minute :)

Also, Crespo had a break-away in the early part of the game, but missed :(

[heidi]

We won 2-1, thanks to Hernan Crespo.

[Always Laziali]

we will do well i must say

[Petko]

Crespo didn't play very well in this match, other than the fact that he scored he was practically horrible, he missed so many chances...:mad2:

[valdanito_10]

he had a good match! he was in avery danger we gave the opponent u cant ask for a lot more than giving us the victory so he basically did his job! and how did deki play?:rolleyes: ;)

[Always Laziali]

crespo is getting back to his very best , i am certain and with mancini around , what do you expect

[ahmed]

Lo scudetto is ours ...

[Laziolover]

ooh come on give me a break would u :rolleyes:

we win derby in a friendly game and suddenly scudetto is ours :confused:

[King Italy]

I can tell this season is going to be different, there is something in the air, is it Mancini, who knows? I just got this feeling. Despite the fact we have not played the best in these two games, it's usually a sign of a champion team that you win without playing your best.

[valdanito_10]

Its like my coach says, "a team is not always so good when they win and so bad when thye loose"! this coule mean many thinggs

[Always Laziali]

just remain confident guys

[valdanito_10]

yes I am quite confident but no illusinating!

[Laziolover]

I am confident but not over reachting

[Always Laziali]

we are not overeacting are we ?

[valdanito_10]

douibt it

[MarieL]

I haven't seen a single Lazio game after the Inter match, so I have no idea what to think!

[Always Laziali]

i am so glad i would be able to watch lazio against tottenham this sunday

[valdanito_10]

ive seen em all and wilñll see the rest

[Always Laziali]

i wonder if the curva nord will be there

[valdanito_10]

curva nord stay at limpico all 24hours! i dont think it can move:D

[Always Laziali]

i will be disappointed because i won't be able to hear them sing

[valdanito_10]

dude! i meant the sction not the fans! im sure some irdicibili will travel to england to follow the team

[Always Laziali]

so the fans will still be there ? I hope at least 20 000 of them goes

[valdanito_10]

its just a friendly!

[King Italy]

Do you mean 20,000 of them goes to the Tottenham friendly?

[Always Laziali]

yeah !

[Laziolover]

are u serious :confused:

[valdanito_10]

hmmmm! tahts a LITTLE too much dobnt u think:D

[Robledo]

Blackburn Rovers 3 - LAZIO 2

Scorers:

Negro own goal (1st Minute)
Dwight Yorke (8th Minute)
Henning Berg (19th Minute)

Claudio Lopez (25th Minute)
Liverani (70th Minute)



Good fight back, Crespo hit the post in the 87 min with a diving header, unlucky

[Che]

Bravo Paolo, Bravo! He's Back! :yawn:

[Always Laziali]

3 defensive mistakes , i don't believe this

[Komik 9]

Three defensive mistakes, sure, but the thing is that both Nesta and Stam were on the bench from start, and as right back there was no Oddo, but Pesaresi. Still, that doesn't make it right.

[Petko]

This is nothing to worry about, they scored 3 goals on our reserve defence
As soon as our real defence came in, they couldn't do anything, we dominated the game in the second half, scored a goal and could have scored one more, but it hit the post...

[Always Laziali]

but it shows that we don't have any good back up

[valdanito_10]

ok! :mad: negro!its good backuo but not when u field them all at the same time

[Petko]

Report: Blackburn-Lazio 3-2 Posted August 10, 2002 - 11:25 by Mattias

Dwight Yorke found the road to goal on his home debut - only for Blackburn to slip out of gear.

Three up after only 19 minutes, they allowed Lazio to creep back into this entertaining pre-season warm-up.

Former Manchester United striker Yorke, snapped up for £2million, was on the mark as early as the seventh minute.

It was Blackburn's second goal of the game, and both came from defensive lapses by the Italians.

Blackburn took the lead after 38 seconds with a bizarre own goal from Paolo Negro.

Under pressure from Andy Cole, the Italian steered the ball beyond astonished goalkeeper Luca Marchegiani.

Then Emanuele Pesaresi tried to chest the ball back to Marchegiani but he only succeeded in finding Yorke, who drilled it home.

Considering Lazio's tradition, it was a bright start by the Worthington Cup holders.

Blackburn kept the momentum going with a third goal in the 19th minute when captain Henning Berg got away from his marker to head in Keith Gillespie's cross.

Fernando Couto almost conceded a fourth for Lazio before they rallied and pulled a goal back in the 25th minute through Claudio Lopez.

The visitors should have added a second, only for Lopez to head wide following a cross from Dejan Stankovic.

Lazio made wholesale changes at the break with former Manchester United defender Jaap Stam one of eight replacements. He found himself facing Yorke and Cole, his team-mates at Old Trafford where they won medals and trophies galore.

After seeing their side score three times early on, the Blackburn supporters were anxious for more of the same.

However Lazio looked a lot more organised than they were in the first half, despite fielding almost a new side for the last 45 minutes.

Turkish defender Hakan Unsal delivered a good cross to the back post for Blackburn, with Gillespie the target.

However Pesaresi read the situation well and diverted the ball to safety with the Northern Ireland international ready to pounce.

Lazio showed their fighting spirit by adding a second in the 71st minute through Fabio Liverani.

Blackburn regrouped and held out for a notable win against a side who will also be competing alongside them in the UEFA Cup in the weeks ahead.


soccernet

[Petko]

Mancini's view on the defeat Posted August 10, 2002 - 11:30 by Mattias

Lazio was defeated last night by Blakcburn but except for the first 20 minutes, Lazio played a good game and confirmed that the team is in good shape. Lazio coach Roberto Mancini gave his view on the game.


Mancini: "We are mentally tired after a month of pre-season and that's what we paid in this game, giving away two of Blackburn's three goals. But after the first 20 minutes we started to play better and better, creating several opportunities to even equalize the result."

[King Italy]

These defensive lapses must be fixed up before September 1.

[King Italy]

Tottenham led by two goals early on in their pre-season friendly against Lazio but ran out of steam as the Italaians fought back to force a 2-2 draw at White Hart Lane.

Jamie Redknapp won over the Tottenham faithful with a fine goal and an industrious display on his home debut, in Spurs' final warm-up before the Premiership kick-off.

Former England midfielder Redknapp, who hopes his free transfer to White Hart Lane from Liverpool at the age of 29 will revive a career cruelly inhibited by a series of injuries at Anfield, certainly looked the part before an early exit in the 77th minute.

And when he measured home a superb volley in the 19th minute to put Spurs two up after Dean Richards had struck with just 74 seconds on the clock it looked like being another embarrassing afternoon for star studded Lazio.

But Richards' error allowed the Romans an unexpected route back into the match when Claudio Lopez scored just before the half hour.

And an impressive second half revival earned them equality via Hernan Crespo's nimble header.

The match - Tottenham's 10th pre-season test - kicked off five minutes late but Spurs soon grabbed the lead when Richards was allowed all the space he needed in the Lazio area to dive and head in Sergei Rebrov's cross.

Spurs had almost gone ahead even earlier when a menacing run by new Slovenian star Milenko Acimovic only just broke down in the six yard box.

And sleepy Lazio, who fielded the likes of Jaap Stam, Alessandro Nesta and Argentinian front line duo Crespo and Claudio Lopez, had several other escapes before Spurs deservedly doubled their advantage in the 19th minute with a cracking volley by Redknapp.

He followed up to net in spectacular style after Acimovic's shot was hacked away.

Although Spurs continued to dominate - much to the fury of Lazio coach Roberto Mancini who paced the touchline cursing his side having seen them concede three goals in the first 20 minutes of their 3-2 defeat at Blackburn on Friday - the visitors pulled one back 10 minutes later.

An unconvincing header by Richards allowed Cesar Rodriguez to set up Lopez who comfortably beat Kasey Keller from 10 yards.

And even though Keller made fine saves to delay Lazio's comeback bid after the break he could do little about the glancing header by Crespo, which converted Lopez's run and cross in the 58th minute.

Redknapp twice went close from distance and substitute Steffen Iversen bungled a glorious opportunity to regain the lead for Tottenham when he ballooned over in the 72nd minute after a long ball confounded the Lazio defence.

But still without the injured Gus Poyet, Darren Anderton and Christian Ziege, Spurs had to play second fiddle for long spells in the second half to a Lazio side who replaced ex-Man Utd star Stam with Portugal veteran Fernando Couto at half-time and also brought on the talented Simone Inzaghi after the break.

[valdanito_10]

again defensive mistakes!

[King Italy]

But it is great to see that the team has character and come from behind in a diffcult siuation even when they are tired from pre season

[valdanito_10]

yes that is great! not like last season if the otherteam scored 1st forget about it

[ahmed]

yeah that's right
But I have to say that is due to the Coach ..he is better

[Always Laziali]

yeah i agree but also due to the heart of the team