Controversial Maurizio Sarri’s departure from Lazio leaves the team without direction following a tumultuous season.

In the aftermath of Lazio’s disappointing 2-1 defeat to Udinese, Maurizio Sarri, visibly frustrated, confronted his underperforming players. Little did they know, or anyone else for that matter, what was about to unfold. Leaked reports have revealed that Sarri informed his players of his decision to resign, citing their lack of adherence to his tactics. And he meant it.

After two and a half years in Rome, during which he guided the club to an impressive second-place finish last season and had them on the cusp of a UEFA Champions League quarter-final spot just a week ago, Sarri’s departure was officially announced on Wednesday. It was a shocking turn of events.

The question on everyone’s mind is, how did it come to this? Lazio’s downfall can be traced back to a difficult third season that reached its breaking point during a disastrous six-week period. Defeats to direct top-four rivals Atalanta and Bologna were damaging, but the team’s spirits were lifted by a stirring first-leg victory over Bayern Munich in the last 16 of the Champions League. However, consecutive Serie A losses to Fiorentina and AC Milan severely dented their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.

Their confidence took another blow when they were thrashed 3-0 by Bayern and suffered an embarrassing defeat to Udinese, which was met with boos from their own fans. This string of five losses in six games left Lazio out of Europe and languishing in ninth place in the league, a distant 11 points away from the top four with only 10 games remaining.

This decline has been a shocking fall from grace for a team that finished second last season. Lazio’s current position is 15 points worse off than at the same stage last year. Sarri has struggled to find the right balance within his team, with their meager tally of 33 goals matching that of two teams in the relegation zone. Additionally, their defense has been a far cry from the one that kept a club-record 21 clean sheets the previous season. The mentality of Lazio’s players has frequently been called into question, both under Sarri and his predecessor Simone Inzaghi. However, it was their abysmal performance against Udinese that convinced Sarri that there was nothing more he could do for a squad that had failed to live up to the standards set just a year ago.

Opinions on Sarri’s legacy at Lazio are divided. Some fans view last season’s second-place finish, their best since winning the Scudetto 24 years ago, along with four Rome Derby wins out of six and this season’s Champions League run, as a major success. However, others criticize Sarri for his inability to replicate the fluidity of his renowned Napoli side and for the team’s significant drop-off this season. They also point to his lack of tactical flexibility in addressing a stagnant style of play.

Sarri faced a challenging first season as he sought to transform Lazio’s playing style from the direct, vertical 3-5-2 under Inzaghi to a possession-based 4-3-3. The team finished a commendable fifth, setting the stage for an exceptional 2022/23 campaign in which they achieved their highest league finish since their Scudetto triumph in 1999/00, coming second to Napoli with a record 74 points. However, the subsequent departure of influential midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic to Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia left a significant void, and Lazio has sorely missed his creativity and composure in the final third.

Lazio’s recent slump represents their worst run of form this season, but their inconsistency has plagued them throughout the year. Defeats to Lecce, Genoa, and Salernitana have offset the highs of their European campaign, which saw goalkeeper Ivan Provedel score a last-gasp equalizer against Atletico Madrid as they progressed from their group ahead of Celtic and Feyenoord. Sarri’s resignation has only raised further questions about the team’s fragility, while the club’s hierarchy has also faced criticism for their transfer market activities. No players were brought in during the January transfer window, and Sarri previously voiced his dissatisfaction with the club’s strategy, stating, “I requested player A, and they made me choose between C and D.”

For now, Sarri’s assistant Giovanni Martusciello has been appointed as interim manager for the upcoming match against 18th-placed Frosinone. It remains to be seen how long he will remain in charge, with former players such as Miroslav Klose, Tommaso Rocchi, and Cristian Brocchi mentioned as potential candidates to lead the team until the end of the season, along with former Marseille coach Igor Tudor. A long-term solution is unlikely to be decided until the summer, when Lazio owner Claudio Lotito will face a significant decision. Will he opt for an up-and-coming manager in Serie A, such as Monza’s Raffaele Paladino or Torino’s Ivan Juric, or will he go all-in for a high-profile name like Porto’s Sergio Conceicao? Conceicao is a favorite among many fans, having won Serie A with Lazio as a player. In a recent interview on Sky Sport Italy, he concluded by saying, “Forza Lazio.”

Whoever takes charge of the team until the end of the 2023-24 season will still have an opportunity to salvage a turbulent campaign. With 10 games remaining, Lazio still has a chance to secure European qualification, and they also have a two-legged Coppa Italia semi-final against Juventus on the horizon. There is still time for the players to prove themselves in a way that Sarri believed they were incapable of under his leadership.