Bull in progress. Ivan Juric looks at Lazio with the same eyes with which he faced Sassuolo, knowing that tomorrow an even more convincing test will arrive at the Grande Torino. He is not deceived by the excellent and in some ways surprising performance of Reggio Emilia which led to an encore – three successes in a row have been missing for two and a half years -, but he hopes to see the same look of his performances at the Mapei Stadium. «I’m curious, we want to repeat ourselves even if we know the value of the opponent – says the coach -, but we are only at the beginning of our journey to know who we are. And anyway they are not the strongest group ever trained, in the first year in Genoa the team was better in terms of structure and experience. For now we are 5, but we can reach 7/8, but also go back as in the last two years ».
The Croatian is frank as usual, he warns his parents that the ghosts of the past can return to the first distraction, but in the meantime he has shown that there is a way out. “Out of four games we did three well and one, the one with Fiorentina, very bad”, the analysis of the coach who does not let himself be distracted by the three close matches in nine days, with the derby closing the triptych.
«From tomorrow evening we will think about Venice, also counting the injured players – says Juric -, but now we will only test Lazio. The rest doesn’t matter. Turnover? We must be able to put one or the other at any time: there are some superior players and many who can turn ». This is the philosophy of the coach of the Toro who recovers Pjaca – «the audition went quite well» -, but he must do without Praet who in Reggio Emilia tripped over the first forced stop in the garnet jersey.
Then there are the conditions of Belotti to be investigated: bad news, there is no return date and at this point he will also miss the derby. «The attacker is very sorry for not being able to help – Juric informs -, he is the usual lion but he still can’t run. I hoped he would come back earlier, now we are beginning to be worried, we hope that he will pass and that he will be able to recover quickly ».
What has changed, besides the ranking, is the perception of a square that has returned to believe and to exalt itself for Turin. It hadn’t happened for a long time, but even in this field Juric pulls the brakes. «Of course, it is better to work with the enthusiasm of the people than under a hood of depression – he says -, but the championship has only just begun and for this you have to remain calm and with your feet on the ground. However, let’s try to take advantage of the moment, let’s not lose this enthusiasm, let’s ride it. Against Lazio I hope to see another good performance ».