Jordy Clasie enjoyed AZ’s game against Lazio. The midfielder saw his team play eye-catching football at times, especially in the second half, which meant that the Italians were defeated 2-1 for the second time. In conversation with Veronica Clasie named two pain points afterwards. The supercharger knows that ‘this kind of team’ often gives away a lot of space and Lazio may already have had the head in Sunday’s Roman derby.
Clasie knows where AZ made the difference in the return in their own stadium. “Last week we were very firm on the ball in the final phase”, the midfielder briefly looks back. “Then you see that you can also let these types of teams run. The plan was to let them run from the start and wait until there would be room. At a certain point they become impatient. These types of teams often fall into two parts : the attack and the midfield and then a big gap to the defense. We played well in between at times.”
According to Clasie, AZ was warned in advance by trainer Pascal Jansen. “He said, ‘Whatever happens, keep calm.’ I think the team did that. It’s always a downer when you fall behind, then you know you have to come. But we kept doing the same as we started. I think we got into the game better and better. We created a lot of chances and were the parent in large parts of the game. Almost a perfect evening. Compliments to the whole team.”
Clasie has no preference for the next opponent. One of the possible opponents is John van den Brom’s Lech Poznan, the longest-serving trainer in AZ’s history. “If you want to go far, sometimes you have to be a bit lucky with the opponent on paper. Some might have already written us off in this match. But if you have faith in the team… These kinds of teams may already be thinking about Sunday (Lazio then plays the derby against AS Roma, ed.), that was an extra motivation for us,” Clasie concludes.
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