Igor Tudor’s natural habitat seems to be Italy. He played for Juventus and Siena, coached Udinese and Verona, was an associate of Andrea Pirlo at Juventus, and will soon be on the Lazio bench. Although there were other candidates, president Claudio Lotito opted for the Croatian strategist. The only thing missing is the signature, although basically everything has been agreed. Tudor will arrive in Formello on Monday and begin a mission aimed at fixing the situation after poor results in the final period of Maurizio Sarri’s tenure. There were speculations as to whether Igor would lead Saturday’s match away to Frosinone, however, neither he was in favor of that option, nor was the paperwork completed on time, so Giovanni Martucciello, Sarri’s assistant until now, will sit on the bench for the Romans in the match of the 29th round of Serie A.🚨🇭🇷 𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 | Igor Tudor will be the new Lazio manager! 1.5 year contract + option for another year, reports @DiMarzio. 🔵🦅Sarri’s replacement has been found. pic.twitter.com/5XDAVHTrtL— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) March 14, 2024 The question is what will be his role in the rest of the season, because Igor Tudor plans to appoint Ivan Javorčić as the first assistant, and Tomislav Rogić as the goalkeeper coach as soon as he is promoted to the head of the coaching staff. That deal should be fixed until June 2025, with an option to extend it for another year. The salary will be 2,000,000 euros per season.Sorry, says Sarri: Lazio coach changes his mind and hands in resignationAnother big question is hanging in the air, and it concerns the relationship with Matteo Guendouzi. Igor Tudor and former Arsenal didn’t see ’eye to eye’ while the coach was working in Marseille. There were cases when the Croat would blame Guendouzi for the goals conceded both in the Champions League and in League 1, and the French midfielder apparently didn’t keep his opinion of his coach to himself. Those tensions eventually led, combined with poor results at the Velodrome, to the departure of the coach, and few could have guessed how their paths would cross again. Luckily for Matteo, the end of season is near. After that, someone will have to make way, or they will both sit and work out their differences.SERIE A – MATCHDAY 29Friday Empoli – Bologna 0-1 (0-0)/Fabian 90+4/Saturday 17.00: (2.80) Udinese (2.95) Torino (2.80)17.00: (2.10) Monza (3.40) Cagliari (3.60)20.00: (3.00) Salernitana (3.25) Lecce (2.60)22.45: (3.45) Frosinone (3.50) Lazio (2.20)Sunday 14.30: (1.55) Juventus (4.00) Genoa (7.75)17.00: (5.10) Verona (3.60) Milan (1.73)20.00: (1.90) Atalanta (3.60) Fiorentina (4.50)20.00: (1.40) Roma (4.70) Sassuolo (8.00)22.45: (1.65) Inter (3.90) Napoli (6.00)***odds are subject to change***
