LAZIO president Claudio Lotito has berated head coach Maurizio Sarri for his squad management, claiming he should buy the club if he wants more control.
Lotito was furious after were held to a 2-2 draw by Atalanta in the first leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final on Wednesday.
Claudio Lotito has berated manager Maurizio Sarri for his squad managementCredit: Getty
The club president claimed that Sarri should buy the club if he wants more controlCredit: Getty
He subsequently had a phone call with a supporter – and did not hold back in his assessment.
In the call, which went viral on social media, the president was highly critical of and explained: “The club has a name and a surname: Claudio Lotito. It doesn’t belong to Sarri; if Sarri wants it, he’ll buy it.
“The coach should take the players he has available and let them play, if he’s a good coach.
“Otherwise, what are we talking about? [Taty] Castellanos, wouldn’t let him play: €30million. [Matteo] wanted to leave…
“He blocked the transfers of [Tijjani] Noslin and [Reda] Belahyane and isn’t letting them play.
“I signed [Daniel] Maldini to play left-back, and he’s making him a center-forward. Castellanos was sold for €30million, and now I’m selling [Boulaye] Dia for €18million.
“He’s the only one who doesn’t like the players. Guendouzi used to play him with three, but he got fed up and wanted to leave.
“If you can’t create the right chemistry in the dressing room, you create situations where people tell you to go to hell.”
Sarri won the Europa League with Chelsea in the 2018-19 seasonCredit: Getty – Contributor
Sarri re-joined Lazio as the club’s head coach in June last year.
It came 15 months after he resigned from the same position.
The 67-year-old has managed 167 games with Lazio in total, earning 75 wins, 41 draws and 51 defeats.
Sarri has also coached the likes of and .
But arguably his most notable spell came with from 2018 to 2019.
He won the during his time with the Blues.
Sarri bizarrely last month – despite him costing £11m.
He said: “I don’t know this player. The other people who work at this club probably know him better than I do. But to be honest, I don’t know what to say about him.
“I don’t know him, and that’s normal, because I don’t have time to watch the Austrian league.
“It’s no coincidence that clubs have seven or eight scouts who follow the leagues – at Chelsea there were 30.”
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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