The beat of his thoughts follows that of his goals. Now is a bad time. Immobile is a wounded lion: «Yes, I am a little», he admits through clenched teeth, his eyes shining and a bitter smile. We meet him in Formello early in the morning, in shorts, ready for treatment, looking downwards, but still with many flashes of joy and pride. Ciro is far from finished, he is as old as Christ and never excludes a return to the future: «I will find the nets again. The problem is not that. Perhaps many forget that when I arrived here in 2016, it wasn’t like it is now. It wasn’t even known who the coach would be. Now that we’re playing the Champions League, do they want to park me outside? It doesn’t seem like the best recognition to me. But I carry on, as I always have.”
Precisely. How’s your right flexor? When Ciro is involved, there is always a veil of mystery.
«It’s a particular injury, I had already felt a pull on my thigh in the match against Celtic. Lately I have become expert with injuries (laughs, ed.), I immediately realized that something was wrong. Luckily it’s nothing serious, I’ll have another MRI on Monday, the muscle will have to be evaluated day by day.”
Two hundred goals with this shirt one step away. Every time a round number approaches, there is a traffic jam.
«Maybe that pressure also affects me, it’s a really important number. It had already happened to me with 100 points. First of all, however, I have to get back on the pitch, otherwise I can’t inflate the net.”
Can ten games be enough to make us forget who made Lazio’s history?
«Apparently yes. But only for some, because then also on Sunday the banners of Nord and Maestrelli moved me, showing me their support in a delicate moment.”
Is it the hardest ever?
“No. The first year was perhaps the most complicated because my people had to learn to know me and they said everything. Now there is only a small part of the people, who I don’t even know whether to define as true Lazio fans, who dispute me. I don’t think the real Lazio player can tell me anything, I don’t believe it. It’s just a matter of time and I will make even the most skeptical change their minds.”
Are the effects of last cursed season, even with the car accident, being felt?
«They definitely didn’t help me. First the many injuries, then the accident in the car with my girls. My body and head were affected a little, but I don’t think I’ll carry them around anymore. Maybe I have another type of block, I should play with my head freer and my body less contracted.”
Where do we start again?
«When you see that things are going well you try to train as you always have, but when they go badly you go back to doing the simplest things to find yourself. If you understand that it’s a moment like this, you try not to overdo it because then you’ll do worse. Aside from my personal situation, the team also suffered an unhappy start to the championship and I need everything to go well to score. Go and see how many scoring opportunities I had…”.
There are those who say that in the 3-5-2 he felt freer.
“It has nothing to do with the formation, I scored 27 goals even with the 4-3-3 and 12 last year, having missed half the matches, perhaps someone didn’t notice.”
Do we need more assists from Zaccagni and Felipe Anderson?
«I believe that everyone needed to unblock themselves and the victory against Atalanta may have marked a turning point in a championship in which we did not arrive ready enough for impact and in which we suffered a very tough schedule».
There is also nostalgia for Milinkovic’s verticalisations
«Everyone misses him. But how many times does the farewell of a great champion bring out the strength of the group? The reinforcements suffered at the start, as happened to us in the early days with Sarri, but now they are already inside the schemes and his football. New and veterans together, we must be good at making up for Sergio’s absence both on a technical level and in the locker room. He made his choice in the summer.”
Opposite to that of Ciro, but from Arabia they continue to knock for January.
«It’s a solution that I considered this summer when some offers arrived, but then I decided to reject it for the national team and the Champions League. After such a start to the championship, I asked myself a few questions, especially after the criticism of some, fortunately not all, who did not see and appreciate the gesture but immediately presented the bill. This hurts me, actually makes me waver. And now my thoughts are no longer the same as in July. Some days, when I was more down in the dumps, I thought “it would be better if I left”.
Do you still feel the trust of Sarri and Lotito?
«Always about the coach, I talk to him every day and I’m calm. For the president I am a son, we have always said things to each other’s faces. So, when the time comes that I can no longer give him what he expects, our paths will part.”
Let’s debunk a false myth: Immobile never wanted a deputy who could replace him.
«On the one hand I’m pleased that people think that I have so much power here to decide who to buy and in which roles, but my only “power”, as captain, lies in the locker room. Outside, at most there may have been some chatter about some reinforcements.”
But how, two years ago he signed a private charter with Sarri and Lotito for purchases to be made on the transfer market…
«It was more of a nice thing, not of real value, my seal. Let’s say that I acted as guarantor and witness on a signing agreement that had already been decided by the coach and the owner.”
Caputo’s name was on that sheet.
«Yes, it’s true, then he got hurt and the plans changed. However, it is not true that I have never wanted a substitute because with the football we play, at a very high pace, we need another striker ready, who can give us a hand. If a club wants to grow in terms of objectives and then results, it is essential to have two players for each role.”
Will Castellanos be his heir one day?
«I don’t want to put pressure on Taty. It’s a burden for him to be my successor and I don’t wish it on anyone. He happened to me in Dortmund with Lewandovski and in Seville with Bacca, it’s not the best.”
The most beautiful memory and the greatest regret.
«Remorse is definitely the season finale of 2020. We were really in a strong period, we felt like a steamroller, a train going at a thousand miles an hour and no one could stop us. Instead, Covid stopped us, everything ended, even the championship dream. Both with Inzaghi and Sarri I experienced many good moments. I loved the derbies in which I didn’t play and I enjoyed them, without anxiety, thanks to the success.”
How do you live the derbies after so many years?
«Again in a particular way. This is a unique game, there is nothing similar around the world. In the capital it can shift mental balance for months, even in your daily life. The rivalry goes beyond all thoughts.”
And how did you cultivate your friendship with Pellegrini, captain of the other bank?
«Before, we saw each other more with Lorenzo, at home or in some restaurant. Especially when our children were born, a few days apart, in the same clinic.”
On Tuesday the national team returns to Wembley where they achieved the European Championship triumph.
«A crazy emotion. Winning with Italy at your opponents’ home is something unique. It was a beautiful ride, I carry the whole journey with me: from the retreat in Sardinia to the final. We were a group hungry for victory and we will be linked forever.”
Yet his relationship with Italy always seems so problematic.
«Never had a problem with any coach, it was all created from the outside. Nowadays, even those who don’t watch the matches criticize me, it’s fashionable. When they put a mark on you, it’s difficult to take it off.”
Doesn’t it bother you to hear that there are no center forwards in our country?
«I won the Golden Shoe, but maybe they expected more goals from me. Instead of 200, I had to do 400.”
How is the new relationship with Spalletti?
«Excellent, I was very pleased that he gave me the captain’s armband, it was an important gesture that I didn’t expect. I called my family immediately, I was excited. He will have a good journey because he talks a lot with the players, motivation is fundamental and he always manages to give it to everyone.”
Which striker would you bet on for the Italian future?
«Those available are all good, but they lack continuity. Having a 20-goal season is easy, scoring 4-5 at the same rate is more complicated. If you are a forward, you have to put in at least 2-3 consecutive years with certain numbers on your CV. I really like Raspadori. He is humble and has poison, technically good, has personality and can do everything. He entered the European Championship and is continuous despite having Osimhen in front of him and not playing often.”
And what do you say about Berardi: didn’t he convince him to come to Lazio?
«No (laughs, ed.), I saw him in the national team but we didn’t talk about it because he left immediately».
Are you still thinking of ending your career at Lazio?
«Right now I say yes and no. I don’t want to answer right away, I’ve been thinking about it for a while with my family. In the meantime I have to get back into shape and on the pitch at my best. Once I succeed, I can really decide. Now I would say no because I’m in a bad period and I’m injured, but if I had scored 20 goals I would say yes. So my decision shouldn’t be dictated by the moment. Surely if before I was very convinced of staying for life, now I am a little less so. I’m a little hurt.”
And how do you see your future?
«Definitely at Lazio, but I don’t know in what role. He will decide the president, he will find something for me, he will never question anything I have done. I love Lazio. And they say that the more you love something, the more you feel bad about it and that’s what’s happening to me. What I have always said, and what I regret, is that before evaluating what is done on the pitch, I would like people to also evaluate me for who I am off the field, as a man. I have never said a word out of place, when Roma fans meet me on the street they tell me “We have never seen you make a provocation towards us” and for this they respect me. The real Lazio players have always recognized me first as a person and then as a footballer, and we saw it on Sunday afternoon too. Even here in the club they decided to make me captain, not because I had more appearances, but because of the role and responsibilities I took on. There are many components that pushed me to give everything for the shirt I wear.”
In conclusion, based on what he told us, we imagine that the title of this interview cannot be “Lazio forever”, right?
«No, because then people would only stop at the title, while I don’t know what will happen in January or June. I have never been afraid to question myself, neither when I went abroad nor when I returned here. We will see”.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
1970-01-01 00:00:00
#Lazio #love #Arabia #summer #refused #January #dont #hurt #attacks #fans
