Maurizio Sarri is back in Serie A, and so is the signature style of play that he is known to mould for his team.
The Neapolitan head coach has returned to his native country to take over SS Lazio after a year-long hiatus, and one can well imagine the signature ‘Sarrismo’ – the term used to describe his philosophy of attacking football which was inducted in the official Italian dictionary in 2018 – bearing full fruit soon.
And it looks like Sarri-ball is back already.
Lazio romped to an incredible 11-0 win against Belluno FC in Lazio’s second pre-season outing, and the pick of the eleven strikes was a brilliantly carved out team goal.
Lazio showed flashes of the quick passing football that Napoli showed such an inclination for in the three years that Sarri was at the club, as they put together a string of passes that left their opponents clutching at thin air.
The move was started by Elseid Hysaj, an integral part of Sarri’s Napoli side from 2015 to 2018 – who passed the ball to Raúl Moro on the left flank, who cut inside on his right foot.
Moro found Lucas Leiva infield who found Sergej Milinkovic-Savic with his first touch, who in turn played a quick exchange of passes with Moises Caicedo to find himself through on goal in a flash.
When one-on-one with the goalkeeper, Milinkovic-Savic showed the presence of mind to set up an onrushing Luis Alberto in his wake with a sleek backheel – and Alberto simply tapped the ball home to complete what was a stunning team move.
It was a goal that was the best of eleven on the afternoon, and it must have been one that impressed their new head coach who would want much more of the same as he looks to reclaim the title that he won with Juventus.
