Maurizio Sarri resigns as Lazio head coach after fourth loss in a row leaves club ninth in Serie A table

Maurizio Sarri has resigned as the head coach of Serie A side Lazio, the club have confirmed on Wednesday.

The news comes after Lazio were shocked 2-1 at home by struggling Udinese, leaving the capital side ninth in the table.

The defeat was Lazio's fourth in a row in all competitions and their fifth in their last six matches.

Despite the strong possibility that Serie A will receive an extra Champions League spot, Lazio are currently eight points off arch-rivals AS Roma in fifth and a further three points back of surprise package Bologna who sit in fourth.

Sarri’s assistant, Giovanni Martusciello, will take temporary charge of the first team.

Sarri’s time at Lazio has largely been positive, with the former Chelsea and Juventus manager building well on the work done by former manager Simone Inzaghi.

In his first season, the club finished fifth in the league before improving last year to finish second behind champions Napoli.

However, this summer the club saw Serbian superstar midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic make a big move to Saudi Arabia.

To replace him, Lazio signed Matteo Guendouzi on loan and Daichi Kamada on a free transfer whilst also choosing to invest elsewhere in the squad, bringing in Taty Castellanos, Gustav Isaksen, Matteo Cancellieri and Nicolo Rovella amongst others.

Sarri has been vocal that he has not been satisfied with the way the club has done business in the transfer market.

Following the recent defeat to Fiorentina, Sarri made comments that left no doubt that he was not happy.

“Everyone signs who they want... It seems to me that in July, the club were clear about who were doing the transfers. If I ask you for a player who is plan A, and you make me choose between C and D...It’s not like I did the market.

“But it’s not part of the discussion to be had this evening, we have mitigating circumstances but not many excuses, the performance was bad and the mental flatness evident. We weren’t shaken by the undeserved advantage, the draw or the disadvantage…Heavy performance.

“There were fears, but even in a bad match, I expected better. We went onto the pitch with two or three players who needed to take a breath or had flu symptoms. And there were those who came on without having trained for some time with the team.

“The tensions and physical accumulation make you heavy, I saw the team dull. To be able to play four competitions like us you need a strong material and mental structure, people used to playing every three days.”

In the Champions League this season, Lazio made it through to the knockouts, even stunning German giants Bayern Munich 1-0 in the first leg, before they were knocked out after the second leg.

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