Here is a brief FM20 team guide of the Lazio squad, their club structure, relationship any potential managers will have with the board, expectations and possible tactics any FM manager can use in Football Manager 2020.
Here is a brief FM20 team guide of the S.S. Lazio squad, their club structure, relationship any potential managers will have with the board, expectations and possible tactics any FM manager can use in Football Manager 2020.
About the club
S.S. Lazio are a professional football club that ply their trade in the Serie A. Lazio have most of their history in the top tier of Italian football.
Lazio have been Italian champions twice (1974, 2000), and have won the Coppa Italia seven times, the Supercoppa Italiana four times, and both the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Super Cup on one occasion.
They share their home stadium with AS Roma and have a fierce rivalry with the club, their derby is known as the Derby of the Capital.
Board's Expectations
Lazio finished 8th in the Serie A last season. However, they have qualified to the Europa League by virtue of winning the Coppa Italia. The board requirements should be taken over, will be;
- Make the top 6 of the Serie A Table (Automatic Qualification to the Europa League).
- Make it to the final of the Europa League
- Make the SF of the Italian Cup/Coppa Italia.
There will be no particular demands from the board in terms of how you want to play as long as you achieve the results. The transfer budget when you initially take over should be decent with Lazio not having invested heavily in the transfer market.
You could potentially bring in a couple of players to fill in certain gaps in the squad.
Lazio have good training facilities and a good youth system that will churn out the occasional potential star player. However, you would need to improve this once you stabilize your position with the club.
Squad, Formation and Tactical Style
Lazio are a team that generally like to play on the counter. They like playing a fast tempo game and release their wing-backs to create chances for their front men. So a Fluid counter-attacking style of football is best suited to go with their strengths. Alternatively, you can choose to go with Wing-play if you see fit.
A 3-5-1-1 is probably the best-suited formation to the available squad of players. This is incidentally how they line up in real life as well. This also helps them maintain the width and releasing the ball quickly to counter opponents.
A rough example of what your line-up would look like in a 3-5-1-1 formation is as follows,
- Thomas Strakosha as a regular keeper.
- Luiz Felipe, Francesco Acerbi & Stefan Radu as the 3 centre backs. Acerbi can be played as a Ball Playing Defender.
- Adam Marusic & Senad Lulic as the 2 wing-backs. Increased crossing instructions to take advantage of counter-attacks and the 2 strikers.
- Lucas Leiva, Sergei Milinkovic Savic & Luis Alberto make up the 3 man midfield. Lucas to be played as a defensive mid/anchorman, Savic as a box to box mid & Alberto as an attacking playmaker or a Mezzala.
- Joaquin Correa operates as a no: 10 with a free role to drift in and out of wide positions.
- Ciro Immobile as the sole striker in a Centre Forward or an Advanced forward role.
Alternatively, you can deploy a 3-5-2 and play Felipe Caicedo as a target man in a more direct approach.
Key Players
1. Ciro Immobile
Immobile is a prolific striker who is quick. He has scored a remarkable 100 goals for Lazio in just 147 appearances and is a goal machine. Keeping him fit is absolutely vital to your season.
2. Senad Lulic
Lulic is the club captain and a very attacking wingback. His forward runs, crosses and positioning are crucial to the Lazio counter-attacking style of football with the defender contributing key goals in crucial matches.
3. Sergej Milinkovic Savic
Savic represents quality in midfield. The tall box to box midfielder is strong and has a fierce shot. He is also superb in the air making him the perfect target from set-pieces.
4. Francesco Acerbi
Acerbi is an Italian international who is a solid defender. His leadership in defence will help Lazio from conceding plenty of goals.
Weaknesses
- The quality of backups in the squad may not be up to the quality and could prove fatal if your squad is affected by injuries.
- You run the risk of some talents being poached by other clubs especially in search of higher wages.
- There is not a lot of variety as to how you can play and will be difficult to break teams down once they figure out your style of football.
Potential Transfers (in)
Lazio are not the best squad in the league with respect to squad depth, these players could be welcome additions to the side.
- Nikola Milenkovic
- Lorenzo Pellegrini
- Nicolo Zaniolo
Potential Transfers (Out)
These players may be surplus to requirements at the club or may not be of the expected quality.
- Felie Caicedo
- Patric
- Jony
Youth Prospects
There are a few exciting young prospects in the ranks who have the potential to be some of the best players in the league. A few examples are,
- Nicolo Armini (CB)
- Bobby Adekanye (ST)
- Luiz Felipe (CB)
FM20 Team Guide - S.S. Lazio
To Summarize, Lazio are a decent club with a good number of stars in their ranks. However, with issues of depth and with bigger clubs threatening to poach their stars it could be a hard task for FM Managers to reach great heights with the club. Are you up for the challenge?
