Lazio vs Sampdoria - Stefano Pioli feeling the heat as Lazio look to stop rot

Posted Monday, December 14, 2015 by PA

Stefano Pioli has identified Monday night's meeting with Sampdoria as "the most important game of the season" so far as Lazio look to reverse an alarming slide.

The Biancocelesti finished third in Serie A last term, but a run of five defeats from six games has seen the capital club tumble down to 13th place, only five points above the relegation zone.

Pioli has been afforded rare patience by the Lazio board, but understands that passing up an opportunity to beat luckless Samp - three places beneath them and riding a four-game losing streak - would be a mistake.

"This is the most important game of the season and we want to win it and reverse the course we've been on," he told sslazio.it.

"Tomorrow we have a big opportunity and it's clear we will have to take it by putting in a great performance. I want my players to express themselves and prove what they are capable of.

"I remain convinced that we just need to click that one time. It's the little things that can make all the difference. I want more concentration, more enterprise in attack and more solidity in defence."

A positive result against Samp would go some way towards appeasing the fans who left 10 bags of manure outside Lazio's training ground by way of protest.

Pioli added: "I'm very sorry about the situation that has arisen and this current dispute.

"Obviously there is some bad feeling there and that's not just because of problems on the pitch. The fans expect the results that we want to achieve, too. I hope we can resolve the situation both on and off the pitch.

"Now, as always, we need the supporters behind us so we can bring home all three points."

Vincenzo Montella has overseen three straight defeats since replacing Walter Zenga as Samp boss in November.

Following last weekend's 3-1 home loss to Sassuolo he told the Gazzetta dello Sport: "In times like these it's easy to lose focus, but I need to analyse what's going wrong with a cool head.

"Maybe I need some sleeping pills, because I haven't managed to sleep much.

"There's a lot of hard work to do. I believe the squad know what they have to do as I've seen them do it in patches. They just need to believe in themselves a bit more."