Maybe a loss we had to have. Wishful thinking really.
The harking back to Allegri is a classic knee-jerk. I don't think we are actually playing badly. Before Bentancur went off we were playing well but a player like Can can make a good team so much worse. He was constantly caught in no man's land. I don't think he made one tackle or block and he left the right side completely exposed. To make matters worse, Dybala was left with no one to play off when Can came on and he faded out of the game as a result.
Then there's Bernadeschi who offers bugger all. The only thing he's able to achieve is to cover a man each game. He gives no penetration. That spot needs Ramsey.
Even so, I thought we remained on even terms with Lazio until the card. It's ultimately Sarri's choice to field the wrong players. We were on track to win this game but for Can's cameo. When we were starting to change the pace of the game and drawing fouls in our half the ref ignored them as well which wasn't helpful.
I'd say we're about the same as last season overall. We're less compact than we were but Sarri has brought out much better players in Dybala, Higuain, Pjanic, Alex Sandro and Bentancur. Only Ronaldo is worse than he was last year. Allegri also persevered with the wrong players and/or used players in the wrong way. Under Allegri, we were slow, boring and predictable and, from memory, our record was no better than this season's. The competition in Serie A is also the best it's been for the last 8 years. The criticism on here is wayyy too far-fetched and the imagining up of a golden age under Allegri is just an alibi for these delusions.