Just when you thought you had seen the worst. The Derby Della Capitale (Which should be re-named to the “Derby Delicato” for its lack of intensity by both teams.) Reared its ugly head. Yes, Lazio played far better football than its Rival AS Roma, however points are not handed out for style. They are given to clinical finishing, which is something we continue to lack. To further expand on this newfound good news is that Lazio with this loss have now gone 13 games without a win: A new franchise record!
So on behalf of myself, and all the voices I speak for on The North Curve we want to extend our congratulations to SS. Lazio 1900; Its administration, the staff, players, and most importantly Coach Davide Ballardini, who is now officially the worst coach in our 110 year history. In truth this goofy bald guy should have stayed in press silence because his post-match comments are just as alarming as his actual coaching:

– Davide Ballardini

Somehow Ballardini thought we’d play a more attack-minded game by removing our Captain, Leader, and most active Lazio scorer in Derbies: Tomasso Rocchi in favour of 5 central midfielders without any true wingers present. To make matters worse in the closing stages of the match with our backs against the wall he decides to throw on our most defensive midfielder Ousmane Dabo, (calling him defensive is just to be nice b/c the guy is slower than paint drying.) rather than implementing a third striker in Simone Inzaghi or other attack-minded players like Eliseu or Megnhi. To say I was speechless when I saw the board flash: 6-33 was an understatement. Nothing however, could make my mouth drop more than if Ballardini gets another stay of execution. Now, onto the players that made this joyous occasion happen:

Since our defence is still the weakest section of the field although the Stendardo reintegration has helped us I’m still beginning from the back. Mobido Diakité is my first target. He gets the nod for worst player because of combined poor performances for Wednesday night’s Europa encounter with Salzburg, coupled with his shotty defence in the Derby. Last year we gave him a pass because it was his first full season and looked like he was loaded with potential. Midway through season 2 and I see a beast of a man with a midget for a brain. Countless times he’s made a mess at the back with clearences. His mis-timed intervention Wednesday forced Brocchi to intervene and foul, with the insuing free-kick ending in the back of the net and knocking us out of The Europa League. Sunday was no different. Maybe it’s a stamina problem, more than likely it’s a lack of skill issue. A close second in worst man of the match is Aleksandar Kolarov. Kolarov for me has become the most cringing to watch. He’s back to his old ways of unleashing free-kicks to outerspace along with his over-powered passing, and mistimed tackling. Basically his attacking has become as bad as his defending, or lackthereof. Kolarov single-handedly caused Roma’s lone goal. First he attempts to out mannouvere his way past Cassetti into their box, falls which ends our attack, puts himself out of position and finally prevents himself from making it back in time to pick up Cassetti as he places a one-timer perfectly into the left hand corner of the net. To be fair, the whole line of defence was out of whack on the goal along with more disturbing sequences of watching Brocchi fail to get back to help the “D” out as well. He’s been uncharacteristic of late; attempting to end our winless streak with his shots on goal. Baronio was surprisingly not bad. He also played against a team that is far from world class material. Zarate was of course our main threat, but when you’re a lone striker on a team who fail to posses the same left-side brain creativity as he does, it’s tough times for an Argentinian in Rome. Matuzalem’s performance was stomach-churning, while Foggia his replacement was just as poor. It took Pasquale over 10 minutes into the 2nd half to get a touch on the ball, while he continues to be weak with his crossing. This leads me to wonder if we should opt to play him as a striker with Zarate instead. Who knows? I’m not the coach but I’m 100% sure I couldn’t go 13 games without a win if I was in charge. When the chips are down its better to embrace the loss as a sign of hope that things will change. In the meantime share a laugh with me, Canadian up-and comer Danny Bruzzi, Lazio Club Canada member David Ferrara (PIA FIDELIS) and of course my crazy cousin Joseph the superfan in installments 6 & 7 of The North Curve.

Enjoy,
Michael Di Mascio