New Lazio begin to take shape

Pandev wants to leave with Juventus, Arsenal and Napoli all leading the charge to the Macedonian international. So does Ledesma whose destination remain unknown to this day (Inter Milan would be his first choice). Apparently, if Juventus can’t get Udinese playmaker D’Agostino, they are ready to lay their hands on the Argentinean midfielder. When asked whether his choice was due to Delio Rossi’s departure, the former Lecce player replied saying that it doesn’t have anything to do with the former Lazio coach leaving. Without any doubt though, Cristian Ledesma was pivotal in every Lazio line-up since he arrived and with Ballardini eager to keep four in defence and open up the midfield to three players with a second striker (Foggia used to play in that role when Ballardini was at Cagliari) behind the two forwards, Ledesma wouldn’t probably play with the same continuity. The midfield Ballardini may have in mind could be basically made up of more deep-lying and attacking midfielders rather than a defensive one. His prerogatives, after all, are “passion, concentration, enjoyment, quality and organization” as he said introducing himself to the press on Tuesday. So, it would be quite difficult to enjoy if Lazio kept playing in the way they did in the last couple of seasons.
Ballardini though refuses to be considered a Sacchi’s disciple: “Arrigo shaped his teams according to the individual didactics applied to team game, while my assistants (Carlo Regno, Stefano Melandri and Andrea Rinaldi) and I do exactly the opposite: we begin from the game in order to develop the individual qualities of every player and only then we focus on attack/defence tactics”. When asked whether it will take him long then to know all his players’ features and to develop a good relationship with them, he replies: “My grandfather spoke only once a week and I remembered well what he said. My grandmother indeed spoke millions of times a day and I actually had difficulty in remembering all she said. So no, I won’t talk to them more than 15 seconds on the first day. Then we’ll all start working hard from the beginning.” Ballardini will then take advantage of these three weeks to establish at the Formello training ground, which will be his and his assistants’ house for the next two years. His aqua green jumper, the same he wore when Palermo and Lazio introduced him to the press, will still be with him. Not his wife and kids though who will get the chance to see him maybe only on his day off. That’s the way he loves to work.