of the fact that Immobile is nothing if
not a player whose best qualities are
his physical power and presence rather
than a refined technique. He is in fact
very handy with his feet but he is also
much admired for his work rate and
his willingness to put himself about,
in attack and defence.
Obviously, Zeman is
too subtle to suggest that
Immobile could yet inspire
Lazio to a title win. But he
does acknowledge that,
along with midfielders,
Luis Alberto and Sergej
Milinkovic-Savic, he is
fundamental to the
side’s title challenge.
When he returned to
Italy at the age of 26,
Immobile had said that he
hoped to do well because
the best years for a striker
were between “26 and
30 years of age”. If he
has managed to resurrect
his career in those years
at Lazio then he is thefirst to admit that he owes much to Lazio
coach Simone Inzaghi, a coach “who put
me right in the heart of his plans”.
His good seasons with Lazio have
meant the boy from Torre Annunziata,
Naples, has consolidated his position in
the Italian national squad.
Given his first cap in a 1-0 friendly loss
to Spain in 2014, he has now won 39
caps, scoring 10 goals, under four
different coaches: Cesare Prandelli,
Antonio Conte, Gian Piero Ventura and
Roberto Mancini. Barring injury he looks
a certainty for the Euro 2020 squad and
Mancini will doubtlessly hope that he
continues in his rich goalscoring vein.
In truth, Immobile has not always
sparkled for Italy. In the 1-0 loss to
Uruguay in the 2014 World Cup and
the World Cup play-off loss to Sweden
in 2017 he was less than inspired. Then
again, he was not the only one.
At Euro 2020 this summer Italians
will be hoping he can sustain his current
match-winning form. In the meantime,
Lazio fans will settle for more of the
same in Serie A.
Paddy Agnewon track. And if he goes on to win the
title of “Capocannoniere” this season, it
will be the second time he has done it
with Lazio, having ended up joint-top
scorer with Internazionale’s Mauro Icardi
on 29 goals in the 2017-18 campaign.
One man who has not been surprised
by Immobile’s good form with Lazio is his
former coach at Serie B side Pescara,
Zdenek Zeman.
Playing alongside Lorenzo Insigne
(now at Napoli) and Marco Verratti (now
at Paris Saint-Germain), Immobile scored
28 goals and topped the second-tier
chart in the 2011-12 season. Looking
at the current Immobile, Zeman recently
told La Gazzetta dello Sport: “When
he came to me it was after a couple of
seasons when he hadn’t scored much.
“But he was a worker, a player who
really wanted to train and push himself,
and he did that and he started scoring
goals immediately. He is a better striker
now than he was with me. He sees the
goal much better.
“Whereas in the past he would blast
it high into the terraces, he now shoots
only when he thinks he will score.”
Zeman’s observations are a reflection
Europe’s best...ESM
Golden Shoe leaderUnstoppable...on target yet again, this time against Sampdoria from the penalty spot
“In the past he would blast it high
into the terraces. He now shoots
only when he thinks he will score”
Former Lazio coach Zdenek ZemanPEOPLE AND PLACES IN THE NEWS