Lazio boss flays United target Anderson
Print Edition
LAZIO coach Stefano Pioli has slammed star forward Felipe Anderson amid speculation the Brazilian is awaiting a bonus payment before quitting the Serie A club for Manchester United this month.
Anderson inspired Lazio in the second half of last season to a third-place finish in Serie A, but outside interest in his services has coincided with a lull in his performances for the capital side this term.
Reports in England say United is set to table an offer of 36.9 million pounds to lure Anderson to Old Trafford, although Anderson is said to be hanging on to make sure he receives the bonus payment that has been promised to him as part of his buyout clause.
In the meantime, Anderson continues to disappoint Lazio and its fans.
Pioli substituted the 22-year-old at half-time of a scoreless stalemate with promoted Carpi at the Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday, and later questioned Anderson’s contribution.
“I believe he can do a lot more. I know it and he knows it,” Pioli said later. “I had to change him because I’m the coach and I have to make decisions.”
The Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper gave Anderson’s first-half performance a note of 4 out of 10, noting “the extent of his apathy was irritating.”
Anderson’s underwhelming performances of late, meanwhile, are doing little to improve Pioli’s job prospects.
The club has steadily slipped into the second half of the table since beginning a seven-game winless run at the end of October.
Lazio’s third draw of the campaign left it 10th at 15 points off leader Inter Milan, for whom Mauro Icardi hit his 8th goal of the campaign in the 1-0 win over Empoli 1-0 to reclaim top spot as a five-way race for the Serie A crown opened up.
Fiorentina had gone provisional top thanks to a 3-1 win at Palermo where Slovenia international Josip Ilicic notably struck a brace to take his goals tally to the season to 9 in 18 games.
But Inter, one of several teams showing it has the tools to unseat four-time consecutive champion Juventus this season, restored its one-point lead thanks to Icardi’s winner on the stroke of half-time.
With Inter, Fiorentina and Juventus all victorious, Napoli was under pressure but stayed in the hunt with a 2-1 win at home to Torino that moved it back up to third place at the expense of Juventus.
Between Inter and fifth-placed AS Roma there are now just six points.
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