[EL MATADOR]

The way that Zoff was dismissed after he was the best coach in the world for the 2000/2001 season.

He had to bring in great results immidiately with a brand new team with no confidence. There is no doubt mendieta and Fiore are quality players but they were playing poorly. They were new to the team and needed time to adjust. Zoff gave them the chances (the only way that they could improve) at first team football and maybe it was because of them that he was sacked. If we were still with Zoff I'm sure than Mendi would be settled and a star. When Zac came in he took the easy wasy out and results have improved slightly but hes been greedy while Zoff took a blow for the team doing what was best for the team. He inturn lost his job while Zac has been average and left Mendieta in the wilderness

Its sad that due to this lack off respect we lost Zoff. He would have been great for next season (nearly as good as Cuper) but we must stick to 4-4-2

btw when do u guys think our turning point was? When we became the dull team that wasnt championship material. Was it when we sold Conceicao for Almeyda + Conceicao? When SGE agreed to coach england? When we signed Zoff? When we sold Veron + Salas + Nedved? When Zoff played 3-4-1-2? When we signed Zac?

I think its a mix of when we sold Veron and co and 3-4-1-2....Zac was the topping on the cake. What a shame we didnt get Cuper :depress:

 

[mendicalcio]

Yes, I totally agree with you!
Zoff is a person who cares about players. He wanted to help Mendi and Fiore to improve, to integrate in the team. He knew that both players are worldclass, but they needed time to adapt.
Especially Mendieta, who needs more time to understand the Italian way of playing soccer.
Zoff had confidence in both players and that was good.
But then came Zac and tried the easy way. He doesn´t care about Mendieta, he doesn´t trust him and that´s the big problem.
In an interview two years ago, when he was playing still for Valencia, Mendi said that a football player can only make the "breakthrough" if the coach has confidence in him. If not, he will never make it.
And that´s exactly happening to him with Zaccheroni now. :depress:

 

[Youness]

frankly I still have a lot of respect for Zoff .
Crag sold all his key players especially Nedved and Salas (who was very important in Zoff's system) and gave him others that he doesn't know... I liked the way the team played last year and I am sure it was unnecessary to sack him especially that there weren't any good options as substitutions...

I insist again on this 3 men defense team.. all the best teams now can change very easily from a 4 men defense to a 3 mens one.. Lazio is out of the major competitions because we don't have this ability... Zoff knew it.. and that's why he wanted to create a team who can play without any problem with any tactic , depending on the players available and the game contest...

it was Craj jr fault because it was him who wanted Zoff out ! and he should take the blame !!

after the team lost their leaders ( I'd say their offensive boosters ! ) it was normal for us to wait untill those new stars settle in the team and create the offensive play... they haven't settled quickly that's why we struggled and still struggle...
so imo the turning point was the departure of Nedved+Salas+Veron...

 

[Boyo]

Here are Zoff's comments about this subject (from Laziomania):

Zoff: "After have sold Nedved, Veron and Salas the team needed confidence. But someone didn't understand that and thought it would be better to fire me and hire Zaccheroni. That was a big mistake because now we see the results, and instead after the defeat against Nantes a vote of confidence to everyeone would have been needed."

Zoff about the transfer market: "Some sales were made due to financial reasons and to start all over it is hard. Confidence to the team and coach should have been given but instead someone preferred to blame someone. I was also trying to insert Mendieta and Fiore the best possible way into the team. They are both great players who could become the important future of the club. But now the club, instead, have many problems and the two players are some of them."

Zoff about the future: "I won't return to Lazio, nor as coach nor as president. I just hope that I as soon as possible will return to work within the world of football."

To conclude Zoff comments the two derbys lost this season: "In the last derby every shot on goal was a goal for Roma. That never happened when I coached Lazio. I might only have won 1 derby but I have never lost one."

---------------

Zoff makes some good points and indeed the team hasn't lived up to the expectations after Zac took over, but realizing this doesn't do us much (or any) good now. I feel the task at hand is to rebuilt Lazio into a strong motivated team that is willing to fight. Be it with Zac or with anyother coach it is still the players that are on the field, they are the ones who decide matches. And after all it hasn't all been bad under Zac... remember those five matches in a row that Lazio won last year? That should indicate that it isn't all to blame on the coach.

 

[Biancoceleste]

IMO, Zoff was never given an honest chance this season. He proved last year that he was a good coach when taking over from Eriksson and he kept us in the running for Lo Scudetto to the very last match day. But when rioma, unfortunately, ran away with it, it was already here Zoff was doomed to not get a decent chance. And considering how many chances Zac got this season, and failed, it is incredible he hasn't been treated the same way as Zoff. Hell, Cragnotti says he will even be running the team next year. :depress:

 

[marceljasen]

Yeah, Zoff got the boot in a not so nice way. I think we all agree that Lazio management (the Crags) carry the biggest responsibility for what has happened. You simply can't sell talent like that. Zoff had a a clearly inferior squad to work with, and most of all he had no wingers. So the task wasn't easy. But this doesn't mean that Zoff is some kinda misunderstood genious who got booted for no reason. He failed to make anything out of what he had, just as Zaccheroni failed miserably. Zoff is simply not a winner, although he's been damn close a couple of times. Remember that Zoff wanted to play the team in a 3-5-2 system already when he first took over from SGE, even though we lacked the adequate wingers for this system. The players changed his mind and they kept playing the way they had done under SGE... and they went on to have a great second half of the season. He had the players to thank for a lot of it - he is not a miracle worker. He is a nice man and a fair coach. Not more.

Youness, the 3 man defence... looking at the most successful english and spanish teams the last couple of years, they've played with a four man defence all the time, with no need to change this. rioma, who won the league last year, used their three man defence pretty much every game. Inter, who are top of the league now, have used four at the back all season. So the need for change and flexibility (switching between 3 and 4 men at the back) can't be a big issue imo,,, what is really important is to play the team according to a certain idea and also according to the players you have at your disposal. Zoff messed up on this one, as did Zaccheroni. And of course, you need to have players of high enough quality that can be played in the right positions to make your system work. This is why Lazio failed, not because we didn't have the ability to switch system. We simply didn't have the ability to use any system, because of a horrible transfer campaign.