Sarri: "Luis Alberto Needed To Rest, Basic Is An Intelligent Player And I Believe He Can Become The Future Of Lazio"

Maurizio Sarri explains the changes he made to Lazio in the 3-1 win over Sampdoria in the Italian Serie A match at the Luigi Ferraris Stadium, Genoa. Sarri pulled on Ciro Immobile early in the second half after the player had scored twice. Lazio then went down to 10 men after Sergej Milinkovic-Savic was shown a second yellow card in the 67th minute and was sent off.

The Biancoceleste won the match in the first half with goals from Milinkovic-Savic and two Immobile goals. Sarri has to thank Thomas Strakosha for the few saves he made that kept Lazio in front until the end. 

"We have to be more organized than in the last game, otherwise we lose balance. So today I ask the players not to lose their position," Sarri was quoted as saying by Football Italia.

Lazio looks much more solid with Mattia Zaccagni, who provided two assists, and Toma Basic in midfield than Luis Alberto and Felipe Anderson. Zaccagni had some injury problems but adapted very well.

"Zaccagni was affected by some injuries, while now he is having continuity also in training. Basic is precious because he has technical and physical qualities and he will be of great use to us. Basic in my opinion goes very well and perhaps better with Luis Alberto. Even if he can play in any of our positions."

"Luis Alberto needed to rest, I wanted to let him in but then the expulsion changed the situation. Toma can still grow, he has recently arrived and he still has to learn the language. He is an intelligent player and I believe he can become the future of Lazio." he said.

The game changed after the break, with Immobile being replaced by Vedat Muriqi, but it turned out to be more than just a tactical decision. 

"He feels pain in his knee and I hope it's just the effect of the impact and therefore it can be resolved fairly quickly," said Sarri.

Milinkovic-Savic was then shown a red card for dissent, just moments after being booked for a foul. He considered his players naive, but the referee also picked up a second yellow card too quickly. 

"Milinkovic said the referee saw nothing in the previous foul. A level referee had to handle certain situations better without any card. Milinkovic had to react differently, but Fabbri was too hasty."