The Weekly Take, Issue 277: One Departure Made All the Difference

It's often said that people don't know what they've got until it's gone. In the case of Lazio, their struggles this season have been a clear representation of this adage.

During the most recent off-season, the Roman club saw their best player, Serbian midfielder Sergej Milinković-Savić, leave the Stadio Olimpico for a lucrative pay cheque in Saudi Arabia. Al Hilal signed Milinković-Savić for €40 million. The impact of his departure has been obvious - despite having used that same money to fund several other signings, Lazio are nowhere near the team that finished second in Serie A last season - their best result since winning the league in the 1999-2000 season.

Lazio's struggles continued in their league match against AC Milan. The Biancocelesti were by and large no threat to Milan and went down rather tamely. Goals scored by Christian Pulisic and Noah Okafor clinched Milan's third consecutive league victory. The result also left Lazio in 15th place with just seven points thus far - 11 points behind league leaders Inter Milan after seven matchdays.

It's obvious that Lazio would not have been in this predicament had Milinković-Savić still been on board. Their current midfield rotation is just not cutting it. Loan acquisition Matteo Guendouzi looks out of his depth thus far, while the likes of Luis Alberto, Nicolò Rovella, and Danilo Cataldi, while all decent players, do not even come close to significantly moving the needle.

The absence of Milinković-Savić was keenly felt in the match against Milan. Every member of the starting Lazio midfield trio was easily outplayed by their counterparts in red and black. Milan's superiority in midfield went on to serve as their foundation for victory; additionally, Guendouzi has to be singled out for a particularly poor performance - and not for the first time this season.

Milinković-Savić was the driving force behind Lazio's recent success during the club's most successful period since the turn of the century. His impressive versatility, playmaking skills, defensive capabilities, and physicality and athleticism made him one of Serie A's best midfielder and a player once coveted by many of Europe's leading clubs including Milan, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United, and Arsenal over the course of his eight-year tenure at Lazio.

On top of this, Lazio have been even further hamstrung by Milinković-Savić's relatively low transfer fee. At 28, he still has four or five good years left in him and could easily have gone for €55 million or €60 million. Certainly, leaving money on the table when it comes to transfers like this is not the way to challenge for a top-four spot.

While it is unlikely that Lazio will remain this far down the Serie A table for too long, they will probably find it very difficult to make their way back into the chase for a top-four spot and a place in next season's Champions League. Players of Milinković-Savić's calibre don't end up at clubs like Lazio all that often. Based on what has been seen so far, it does not seem particularly likely that Lazio will even be able to qualify for any continental tournament, let alone the Champions League.

Not even the prospect of the upcoming transfer window in January is likely to change Lazio's fortunes. Lazio have never been a club able to attract many top players in the transfer window. Players on the level of Milinković-Savić don't come around all that often anymore - this club has fallen a long way from the glory days when legends like Pavel Nedvěd, Alessandro Nesta, Diego Simeone, Marcelo Salas, and Siniša Mihajlović donned the sky blue and white. More than likely, Lazio will come up empty once again.

This could even have a knock-on effect upon the man who has surely become one of the most luckless coaches in world football history: Maurizio Sarri. A final league position well down the ladder could cost Sarri his job just one year after taking Lazio to their best league finish in almost a quarter-century. Somehow, ever since leaving his hometown club of Napoli, Sarri has developed a knack of taking over right when everything begins to fall apart. It's starting to look as though his Lazio stint will be another example of such.

Although not even a quarter of the league campaign has elapsed, it really doesn't look good at Lazio - and so much of it is down to one single transfer.

The Weekly Take, Issue 177: This Season's Most Underrated Team

What if I were to tell you that there is a team which in just this season alone might make the leap from not even being Champions League participants to winning a major domestic league for the first time in over two decades?

There is, in fact, such a team, and not only that - despite being very much improved from last season and overcoming a slow start by recording a key victory over their bitter rivals, absolutely nobody is taking their league title chances seriously. However, as the season progresses, I believe that it will become evident - overlooking this team will prove to be a grave mistake.

The team I'm talking about is Lazio, who just beat city rivals Roma 3-2 during the latest Serie A matchday. This most recent iteration of the Derby della Capitale saw I Biancocelesti emerge victorious despite Roma's greater control of the match. Although Roma shot twice as often as Lazio did, took nine corners to Lazio's one, and generally dictated the match's tempo, a resolute Lazio claimed all three points thanks to goals scored by Sergej Milinković-Savić, Pedro, and Felipe Anderson.

Although Lazio may currently lie just sixth in Serie A, seven points behind league leaders Napoli, it's still early days - only six of the 38 matchdays have gone by. This is a team which could absolutely bridge that gap and mount a serious challenge for their first Scudetto since 2000.

Just like the team as a whole, Milinković-Savić, Lazio's best player is one who continues to be underrated despite the fact that he may soon make the leap to elite status. A fundamentally sound central midfielder who is a true two-way player, Milinković-Savić returned to the Stadio Olimpico for a seventh season despite off-season interest from Real Madrid, Manchester United, and Liverpool. Given his career trajectory thus far, it isn't out of the question that the Serb might emerge as one of the world's best midfielders this season and lead Lazio to new heights.

During the off-season, Lazio made some very savvy acquisitions which, once again, went under almost everyone's radar. Felipe Anderson came back to the club at which he had previously spent five years; he has fit in seamlessly since his return from three years at West Ham - it almost feels as though he never left. Lazio also picked up Albanian full-back Elseid Hysaj from Napoli on a free transfer. Hysaj has been solid for Lazio since his arrival. If the wheels eventually begin to fall off for Napoli, releasing Hysaj may prove to be a move which they will regret.

Lazio even made a major upgrade in the dugout. In June, they replaced Simone Inzaghi with the perpetually underrated yet often luckless Maurizio Sarri. As Lazio's new head coach, Sarri will undoubtedly have a point to prove, especially to Juventus. Just over a year ago, Juve shockingly fired Sarri even though he led them to yet another Scudetto. He is a coach whose relative lack of silverware belies his actual skill. No matter where Sarri has coached, his teams have almost always overachieved. It would be no surprise if this were to be true of Lazio as well.

Perhaps the biggest factor working in Lazio's favour, however, is the sudden decline of their Serie A rivals. Inter Milan and Juventus both lost their respective best players to second stints at their former Premier League clubs. The effects of these departures are obvious; without Romelu Lukaku and Cristiano Ronaldo, Inter and Juve do not even look close to the teams they were last season. AC Milan also lost their best player in June when Gianluigi Donnarumma signed for Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer.

When you look at the five other clubs which could realistically win the Scudetto this season, all of them are flawed in some way be it in players, coaching, ownership and front office, or perhaps even a combination of the preceding. Though this is true of Lazio as well, the fact that there is no obvious leading contender to win this season's league title means that they realistically to have a chance to break their drought this season.

The glory days of Pavel Nedvěd, Alessandro Nesta, Marcelo Salas, and Sven-Göran Eriksson may long have passed, but now a new generation could be set to take its place in club history.

The Weekly Take, Issue 102: Down to the Wire

This season's enthralling Serie A title race has taken yet another twist.

Lazio edged Inter Milan 2-1 in a crucial top-of-the-table encounter at the Stadio Olimpico allowed the Biancocelesti to overtake the Milan club in the league standings, moving up to second place. Ciro Immobile's penalty equalized for Lazio after Ashley Young had opened the scoring for the Nerazzurri just before halftime. Sergej Milinković-Savić later netted the winning goal for Lazio who are now just one point behind league leaders Juventus.

Serie A's title race this season has been truly enthralling. Juventus, Lazio, and Inter are only separated by three points after 24 matchdays. What makes this title race even more compelling is the fact that Juve have won the league every season since 2011-12. Therefore, this season provides not one, but two golden opportunities for both Lazio and Inter. Lazio have not won Serie A since the 1999-2000 season while Inter have not done so since their historic treble-winning campaign in the 2009-10 season. Thus, both these clubs not only have the opportunity to snap Juve's streak of eight consecutive Scudetti; they also would break their own title droughts by doing so.

It is interesting to note that of these three teams, only Inter made any significant moves during the recently-concluded January transfer window. Although Juventus did bring Swedish winger Dejan Kulusevski for €35 million to the club, the Bianconeri immediately loaned him to Parma for the rest of the season. Juve also loaned Emre Can to Borussia Dortmund after the German midfielder lost his place in the starting 11. Lazio did not make any signings of note; neither did they lose any notable players. Inter, on the other hand, made several noteworthy changes to their squad. They signed English veteran Young from Manchester United as well as Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen from Tottenham. Inter also became the latest club to pick up frequently-loaned Chelsea winger Victor Moses on a temporary basis. Regarding departures, Inter sold Gabriel Barbosa to Flamengo and loaned Valentino Lazaro to Newcastle; although both had come to Inter as intriguing prospects, neither had quite managed to pan out at the San Siro. Barbosa had been particularly disappointing when one considers how much hype he had generated at the time of his signing for Inter.

As the final title run-in approaches, one can clearly see that each club has its advantages and disadvantages. Juve have the most star power which can be seen in players such as Matthijs de Ligt, Paulo Dybala, Giorgio Chiellini, and, of course, Cristiano Ronaldo. However, Juve probably have the most difficult set of matches remaining; they still have to play against Inter, Lazio, and Roma as well as a derby match against Torino. Juve are also the only one of the three title contenders to be playing in the Champions League; thus, they will have to be the most careful with squad management.

Lazio are the only club of the three in the league title race to be no longer involved in European competition. This therefore puts them in a position allowing them to devote all of their attention to the league. However, they have by far the least experience with high-pressure title situations such as this. Thus, it would not come as a major surprise if the Roman club ended up wilting under the pressure, leaving them without their first league title in 20 years.

Inter's main advantage is that they have the best head coach of all three teams in Antonio Conte. The winner of four major league titles and three domestic cups, Conte is arguably the best tactician among all coaches in world football today. They also have probably the easiest title run-in among the title contenders. Nevertheless, although Inter made their intent to win the league evident through their many signings, there is also a possibility that these many new signings will fail to gel and derail their league title bid, their ongoing Europa League campaign, or perhaps even both.

Serie A title races with three contending teams are rare in Serie A; this is only the second time it has happened since the 2001-02 season. Regardless of whether it turns out to be the multiple-time reigning champions, the new faces, or the revived powerhouse under new coaching, whoever comes out on top will have won one of the most hard-earned Scudetti ever.

The Weekly Take, Issue 99: Breaking the Scudetto Streak

There is a very real possibility that this is the year which sees the end of Juventus' streak of seven consecutive Serie A titles. The most obvious challengers to the title are Inter Milan who have revamped their squad, spent heavily and yet prudently, and reaped the rewards accordingly.

However, there is another team which not many would have expected to be in the title race at this point of the season. This is especially true because this is a team which has not been close to winning the league for many years and which does not have any elite-level superstar talent. Despite this fact, they might just claim the Scudetto if everything breaks the right way; as of right now, they are just five points behind league leaders Juve and have played one game fewer.

The latest edition of the Derby della Capitale saw Roma and Lazio split the points in a 1-1 draw. Edin Džeko opened the scoring for Roma, but Francesco Acerbi's equalizer ensured that Lazio would not leave empty-handed.

Lazio's performance was typical of their season thus far: unconventional and yet tenacious and gritty. Fielding a 3-5-2 formation, they had far less possession as well as far fewer shots and corner kicks than their crosstown rivals. In this case, though, it did not seem to be a case of being outplayed. The Biancocelesti came in with the strategy of soaking up Roma's attacking pressure and generally neutralizing it by restricting Roma to low-quality chances; out of Roma's 22 shots, only three were on target.

While it may be the case that Lazio do not necessarily have the one player who is on that level that can change everything for the better for any team, it must nevertheless be said that this is a team which has been intelligently and thoughtfully constructed and in which all the pieces fit perfectly. The club's core players including Ciro Immobile, Sergej Milinković-Savić, Senad Lulić, Lucas Leiva, and Joaquín Correa have combined seamlessly thus far.

Interestingly, this team has not changed much from last season's iteration. Their only new signing who has played much has been Manuel Lazzari, while Portuguese duo Bruno Jordão and Pedro Neto, who both left for Wolverhampton Wanderers, barely featured at all last season.

Furthermore, although I did mention that Lazio do not have a true superstar on their roster, they very well might soon. At just 24 years old, Milinković-Savić appears to have a tremendously bright future with a very high ceiling. The Serbian midfielder has repeatedly been linked with transfers to some of Europe's leading clubs; such transfer rumours are evidence of just how highly he is regarded. With Cristiano Ronaldo clearly on the decline, it is entirely possible that should Milinković-Savić choose to remain in Serie A, whether with Lazio or another Italian club, he could be one of the five best players in the league as soon as next season.

Lazio have also gained much from well-judged redistribution of playing time. The additional opportunities which have been granted to the likes of Luiz Felipe and Correa, who were players who were not certain starters just one season ago, have been of much benefit to them and the club. Correa's positional versatility which is evidenced by his ability to play as a number 10, a winger, or a centre-forward has been a particular bonus for Lazio; it opens up more tactical options whenever he is on the pitch. Backup striker Felipe Caicedo is simply not capable of providing this multi-positional threat; thus, it is no surprise that as Correa's playing time has increased and Caicedo's has declined, Lazio's form has improved in tandem.

The last time Lazio won Serie A was in 2000. In that year, Lazio had an incredibly stacked team coached by Sven-Göran Eriksson and loaded with legendary players including Alessandro Nesta, Pavel Nedvěd, Juan Sebastián Verón, Diego Simeone, and Marcelo Salas. Considering that the current squad does not have any players of that calibre, the fact that Juve and Inter have probably the two best coaches in the league in Maurizio Sarri and Antonio Conte, as well as Juve's stranglehold on the Scudetto since 2012, a Lazio league title 20 years later would be a more remarkable feat by several orders of magnitude.