Lazio Captain Tommaso Rocchi: With Such Refereeing It Is Easy To See Why We Lost Our Heads

The Aquile skipper bemoaned a number of costly decisions from the officials that left his side hanging above the dropzone…

By Stefano Federici

Lanna & Rocchi - Lazio-Bologna - Serie A (Getty Images)
After Lazio finished a man down following a nervous afternoon at the Marassi, captain Tommaso Rocchi took the interview duties following the refusal of an outraged Eduardo Reja, who was also sent off.

“It is normal that when you can’t see out results people start to become a little upset,” he declared to SkySport.

“Looking at the game it is easy to see why we lost our heads a little on certain occasions.

“With regards to the sending off of [Mauro] Zarate, it was clear that he was fouled beforehand and in such situations it is hard to stay cool when things aren’t going your way.

“It hasn’t been easy in the last few weeks given the amount of time we have looked to change things tactically. Nevertheless, when you are determined to climb out of such a difficult moment it is only right that you search for all the alternatives in order to turn things around."

The skipper was then asked to comment on the prospect of returning to the Stadio Olimpico next week, just days after the Biancocelesti faithful boycotted the side in protest against the clubs current hierarchy.

“I believe that it is our duty as players to coax the supporters to the stadium,” he continued.

“When we step on to the pitch, we are the ones who have to pull off a decent performance. I only hope our fans stay close to us next weekend, as they did in spectacular fashion this afternoon.”




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2/15/12
And with that, we're going to call it a night, folks.

We've had two tremendous matches today, so lets hope the intensity keeps up in the next clashes!

Until next time, this is LIVE commentator Stephen Crawford signing off.

From everyone here at Goal.com, thanks for joining us!

2/15/12
All this focus on the Arsenal and Milan game should not take away from another cracker earlier tonight between Zenit and Benfica. The Russians came from a goal down to lead 2-1 in the closing minutes before Oscar Cardozo levelled things for Benfica, but it wasn't over there as Roman Shirokov won the game for Zenit in the 88th minute.

Here's the thoughts of Benfica coach Jorge Jesus, who felt his side deserved a point from the game.
2/15/12
Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny bemoaned his side's luck tonight but refused to give up. Here's some of his quotes:

"They were the better team on the night and that's the story of the day.

"We have to keep fighting, pick ourselves up, get the confidence back and challenge in the other competitions and in the second leg of this tie too.

"They punished us on every occasion; they scored some quality goals and they deserved to win."

Full story HERE


2/15/12
Another Milan player who was willing to share his thoughts after the match was Mark van Bommel, who has urged caution ahead of the second leg in London.

“The score made it look like it was an easy game, but it certainly wasn't.

(Strange... it looked pretty easy from where I was sitting, but hey.)

“I do not think it's over yet. I remember a clash between Milan and Deportivo la Coruna when Milan was also ahead by four goals, and in the end Deportivo eliminated Milan.

“I went into the Arsenal dressing room after the match to speak to Robin van Persie. I had agreed with him to swap shirts – my sons are big fans of his and he brought two for them. They will be delighted.


Van Bommel went on to talk about a possible move to PSV in the future, but was quick to point out his terms for the move.

“I've spoken with PSV, but we don't have an agreement yet. The club has to decide what they want.

“If Louis van Gaal turns out to be the new coach, I won't go.”


2/15/12
Next up is the Milan maestro Clarence Seedorf. He only managed 12 minutes on the pitch, but watching from the sidelines he was delighted at how his team mates had dominated the game.

"Tonight everything went in the right direction and we did a very good match. You don't start a match thinking to win 4-0, but at the end i think we deserved it coz we played very well."

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