Tudor fuels Lazio hope and enjoys Luis Alberto role

Igor Tudor urges Lazio to ‘take one game at a time’ after beating Verona to stay in the race for a Champions League spot and feels Luis Alberto is ‘enjoying’ his new role.

The Aquile shook off the midweek disappointment of their Coppa Italia semi-final exit, despite beating Juventus 2-1 on the night, and got the better of Verona 1-0 with substitute Mattia Zaccagni’s goal.

They had also hit the woodwork twice with Felipe Anderson and Pedro, while Luis Alberto and Pedro wasted golden opportunities.

“We are on the right track, we need to get as many points as possible and see where we are at the end of the season,” Tudor told Sky Sport Italia.

It is the third consecutive Serie A victory for Lazio, who managed to keep a clean sheet against a Verona side that had scored in seven matches on the bounce.

In all competition, Tudor won five of his total six matches at the helm since taking over when Maurizio Sarri resigned, so can they really go for a top five finish?

“You can only plan so much, we have to take it one game at a time. We must prepare the next match against Monza, but this is a huge victory, as we prepared it like a cup final and showed the right mentality.

“It was a very, very dangerous match, because Verona were trailing Atalanta 2-0 and managed to equalise 2-2, so they can never be counted out. I really feel this as the best win of them all, as I felt we had to prepare to the max. Hellas lost intensity in the second half and our quality emerged.

“If you are not careful on the counter-attack or set plays, they can score at any moment and then it becomes very, very difficult to get back on track. The lads were concentrated 100 per cent.”

The Lazio injury crisis is beginning to calm down and Tudor is also getting the best out of more fringe players like Pedro and Daichi Kamada.

“Zaccagni is back and we all know how important he is for the team. Everyone is training hard, eager to work, also enjoying their football. I congratulated the lads the other day, telling them it is a pleasure to coach them.

“Pedro is a sage, he knows what to say and at times today looked like the player we saw at Barcelona.”

The coach was asked about the tactical approach that Lazio had taken when trying to get the breakthrough this evening.

“We wanted to take a few risks, so we had Zaccagni and Felipe Anderson as the wing-backs. Then we scored and it was a bit too attacking, so we had to bring back some balance.”

Tudor transforms Luis Alberto

Luis Alberto provided the assist and is flourishing in this new role as a joint trequartista with Felipe Anderson behind the striker.

“I can say that during this month he’s been fully concentrated in training, he is someone who loves football, needs to feel like a protagonist. I see he enjoys this fluidity of our system, so he can drop deeper or go forward. His quality in the final third is something very few players have and you can tell he is always involved in our goals.”

If he is enjoying himself under Tudor, then will Luis Alberto take back his demand to leave Lazio this summer?

“That is a question for him. I try to do my work, everyone makes their own decisions and the club stands over everyone else. The club comes first, then the coach and then the players. When you respect those roles, you can’t go wrong.”