Following the resignation of Maurizio Sarri as Lazio head coach, the Roman bosses have finally filled the vacuum on the touchline. From now on, the experienced Igor Tudor will be in charge of the Biancocelesti
In the middle of last week, what had been foreshadowed for a long time came true: Maurizio Sarri was no longer in the mood for the job as Lazio coach and resigned after the Champions League exit in the round of 16 against Bayern Munich and an overall very disappointing Serie A season as reigning runners-up.
The tactical genius was annoyed by many things, especially the transfer policy. “When I asked for player A, they made me choose between C and D. It wasn’t me who made the decisions on the transfer market,” the 65-year-old said, among other things.
The previous assistant coach Giovanni Martusciello, once coach of FC Empoli, was then installed as an interim solution. And the 52-year-old led the capital city side to an important 3:2 win at basement side Frosinone Calcio at the weekend after falling behind. The Romans thus remained within touching distance of the international ranks, although clubs such as Florence, reigning champions Napoli (also very disappointing in 2023/24), Atalanta and Roma are still ahead of the current ninth-placed team in the league
No Klose, but a child of Serie A
Igor Tudor is now set to take the cart to the European goal, as was made official on Monday evening.
At the same time, speculation surrounding the possible involvement of world champion Miroslav Klose has been dispelled. The now 45-year-old played successfully for the Biancocelesti between 2011 and 2016, becoming a crowd favorite in the “Eternal City” and most recently bringing himself into the game until the end of the season (“I can be there tomorrow, I would do it”).
Tudor, meanwhile, has reportedly signed a contract until June 2025 and certainly brings plenty of experience with him – experience as a former Serie A professional (playing as a defender for record champions Juventus Turin between 1998 and 2007) and experience as a coach in the Italian top flight. The former Croatian international and Croatia’s 2001 Footballer of the Year has already worked for Udinese Calcio (2018 and 2019), Juve (co-coach of Andrea Pirlo from 2020 to 2021) and Hellas Verona (2021 to 2022).
Tudor has been without a job since stepping down as manager of French first division club Olympique Marseille in June 2023
