Lazio 1-1 Parma – Sarri: ‘It’s been a formative season… I should have had it 15 years ago’

Maurizio Sarri delivered one of his more candid and self-reflective post-match assessments after Lazio’s hard-fought draw with Parma, describing a deeply difficult season in characteristically dry terms, and admitting he could have done without the experience at this stage of his career.

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“I would call it a formative season,” Sarri told Sky Sport, via LaLazioSiamoNoi.

“It would have been better if it had come 15 years ago, because I had more need to be formed back then. At this point, I could quite happily have done without it.”

It was a telling admission from a manager who has operated at the very top of European football for over a decade, and a public acknowledgement of just how much this campaign has tested him personally.

Lazio 1-1 Parma – Sarri acknowledges difficulties in tight draw

On the match itself, Sarri acknowledged that Parma’s compact 5-3-2 had caused problems, particularly in the first half.

“Usually if you keep it goalless until the 70th minute against a setup like that, you win, unfortunately we couldn’t manage that,” he said.

“In the first half we played too much with the ball stuck to feet and without the right rhythm. The second half was better given the nature of the game.”

He was also keen to contextualise the result within the broader difficulties his squad have faced throughout the campaign.

Playing without Provedel, Patric, Gila, Zaccagni and Rovella, and in front of a significantly reduced crowd, the point felt more valuable than it might otherwise appear.

“Fortunately the group seems to have become a real group,” Sarri said. “Today’s reaction is testament to that, this was a match that could have ended very badly.”

On the striker situation, Sarri was measured in his assessment of January arrival Ratkov, noting that the forward is still adapting to a new country, language and style of football after just two and a half months in Italy.

“It is normal that he is finding it difficult,” he said. “He is a little behind where we need him to be right now.”