Football Season Guide

During the past season, Lazio unexpectedly became main players in Serie A despite an extremely limited transfer campaign and despite confirming coach Simone Inzaghi at the helm only at the very last moment. Their campaign was eventually tainted by a defeat to Juventus in the Coppa Italia final and by a last-second drop from 4th place, as they were incredibly overtaken by miraculous Atalanta. They are now expected to repeat their feats in the new campaign but things might prove more difficult for Inzaghi and his boys for more than a reason. First and foremost, this time around there will be a higher competition for the European spots, with the likes of Inter and AC Milan strengthened by their Chinese investors. On the other hand, so far, President Lotito has not been very active in the transfer campaign, thus not really strengthening what already was a limited squad. They might have some troubles facing not only a more competitive Serie A but also the Europa League. As a matter of fact, Lazio have seen Lucas Biglia, the mastermind of their midfield, leave for Milan and this is certainly a big loss for them. The experienced Lucas Leiva, who spent the past 10 years at Liverpool and was no longer one of the main players in the last campaign, should replace the Argentinian in the heart of the midfield but he does not seem totally apt for the role. Neither does Davide Di Gennaro, who joined the Eagles after spending most of the past season on the bench at Cagliari. Not considering all the youths who are back from loans, as most of them will not really find the way to the pitch. The only two other new players to have signed are Adam Marusic, who could represent a valid alternative to Dusan Basta or Felipe Anderson on the right flank of the midfield in the usual 3-5-2 or 3-4-1-2 formations. Felipe Caicedo should provide goals from the bench that Filip Djordjevic has not been scoring last year or he could be the perfect replacement for Keita Balde Diao if the former Barcelona player ends up quitting. In fact, players like Keita, Stefan De Vrij and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic are still being eyed by several top teams from all over the world and they could all be let go for the right offer. Of course, Inzaghi hopes that no more of his talented players will quit or he might have some serious troubles repeating all the wonders done in the past campaign.