.jpg?auto=webp&format=pjpg&width=3840&quality=60)
Lazio manager Gennaro Gattuso spoke at the pre-match press conference ahead of the home clash against Monza:
What is your assessment of the long break? How did you find the internationals when they returned? What do you expect from the team?
That we are fully alert and do not get caught out. Monza are brave, they are a young team with energy. They will come at us with intensity. We have to be ready and humble, it looks like an easy game, but it is anything but that. It will take a great Lazio to bring home the points. We have worked, the players have rested, and we gave minutes to those who had not had them. Some came back from international duty fired up and with minutes in their legs. I saw them looking good, with the intensity we are looking for. I am happy with how they came back and how they trained.
How is Pinamonti?
As I already said in Venice, the decisions are down to me now. He, and the others as well, everyone has to stay calm. I do everything I can to rotate the team. We need everyone. Then I have to choose. I am happy with how he is training and with how he is improving. He has to keep going like this, but that applies to everyone else too.
How is Provstgaard? Does he deserve a rest? Pellegrini?
We will see tomorrow. He is well, he has the physique of an Iron Man. He likes to work, he is powerfully built. He already has almost 2,000 minutes on the pitch, he is well, he trained. He is going at a thousand miles an hour like everyone else. On Pellegrini, it is simple, I speak to everyone, Luca knows the club dynamics. It is a club matter. We will see what happens. The club know my thoughts, for as long as I am here they have to be treated as professionals and treated well. He has never been out of the squad, he has always made himself available, he played in the friendlies. He understands that someone has to be left out given that we have three left-backs. For me he is 100 per cent a Lazio player, then it is up to the club.
Does Lazio's growth, especially against such aggressive teams, depend on better passing play?
I think the opposite, if you keep passing it around and do not look forward, you risk having the ball stolen from you... We have to look forward, I do not care at all about possession. We have to manage, when we win the ball back, if we want to press in an ultra-offensive way, to look forward.
Where can Lazio improve? Will you rely on the internationals or the rested players?
These are the concerns we have when we talk things through with the coaching staff. You always try to change as little as possible, to go with certainties. The assessments are made. We have to stay in the game without being hit by the event. That came out in Venice, we had a first half of enormous suffering, but in the second half we got back into the game and improved. Against Milan, after it went 2-2, I thought it would end in "tragedy", instead we did well to get hold of it again.
Will more balance be needed tomorrow?
We will see, at the moment we want to play in a certain way. If we want to do certain things, they have to be done 100 per cent. It is certainly a game in which we have to be mentally sharp, to know what plays we have to make. They are aggressive, they are not afraid. We have to have courage and know how to hurt Monza. First place means little, I do not look at the table. We are thinking only about Monza, then we will see. I do not get dizzy, it takes humility and the desire to keep surprising people.
Is there anyone in the squad with "Tavares-like" potential?
I said that I hate lazy people, who have enormous talent and think they cannot improve. I have known so many champions, I played with eight Ballon d'Or winners in my career, the difference is made by work and humility. It annoys me when I see talented people doing the bare minimum, because that is a waste. In sport you can always improve. These are not stock phrases. If we are where we are, we have to keep pedalling. I see people doing it, we are trying to do something new, I see enthusiasm and desire. It is hard work, I know. Sometimes I see tired faces. But everyone knows that if we want to play like this we have only one road, which is work and going hard.
Frattesi said he would walk from Milan to Rome. Would you?
I am very direct, with Davide I remember well what we said to each other when I was head coach. I would not have felt right with myself if I had not been direct with him. We all know his characteristics, for a period he had lost his way a bit and perhaps become a little too comfortable. Then I came here, we spoke, I pushed him to make the choice, it was not compulsory for him to come here. I do it with all the players, I have always had a wonderful relationship with them. I can have a problem, but the next day for me it is all over. It has often been said that I am someone who argues with players and presidents. I do not bear grudges, on the contrary, if I see honesty and intelligence I like the discussion. I have one flaw, I want things to be done properly when we step onto the pitch. Then if someone is tired I would rather not see him on the pitch: he tells me and I give him a rest, I prefer it that way. Two or three players who are not going as hard ruin an entire team. Anyone who knows me immediately knows what I am like.
What did you focus on during the break?
It was easy, we made them work hard and then we let them rest because we pushed hard and it was right for them to be with their families, except Cancellieri, who really did something big. I used to give the team little rewards in the form of days off, then they would come back and we would kill them in terms of workload.
What is your assessment of the long break? How did you find the internationals when they returned? What do you expect from the team?
That we are fully alert and do not get caught out. Monza are brave, they are a young team with energy. They will come at us with intensity. We have to be ready and humble, it looks like an easy game, but it is anything but that. It will take a great Lazio to bring home the points. We have worked, the players have rested, and we gave minutes to those who had not had them. Some came back from international duty fired up and with minutes in their legs. I saw them looking good, with the intensity we are looking for. I am happy with how they came back and how they trained.
How is Pinamonti?
As I already said in Venice, the decisions are down to me now. He, and the others as well, everyone has to stay calm. I do everything I can to rotate the team. We need everyone. Then I have to choose. I am happy with how he is training and with how he is improving. He has to keep going like this, but that applies to everyone else too.
How is Provstgaard? Does he deserve a rest? Pellegrini?
We will see tomorrow. He is well, he has the physique of an Iron Man. He likes to work, he is powerfully built. He already has almost 2,000 minutes on the pitch, he is well, he trained. He is going at a thousand miles an hour like everyone else. On Pellegrini, it is simple, I speak to everyone, Luca knows the club dynamics. It is a club matter. We will see what happens. The club know my thoughts, for as long as I am here they have to be treated as professionals and treated well. He has never been out of the squad, he has always made himself available, he played in the friendlies. He understands that someone has to be left out given that we have three left-backs. For me he is 100 per cent a Lazio player, then it is up to the club.
Does Lazio's growth, especially against such aggressive teams, depend on better passing play?
I think the opposite, if you keep passing it around and do not look forward, you risk having the ball stolen from you... We have to look forward, I do not care at all about possession. We have to manage, when we win the ball back, if we want to press in an ultra-offensive way, to look forward.
Where can Lazio improve? Will you rely on the internationals or the rested players?
These are the concerns we have when we talk things through with the coaching staff. You always try to change as little as possible, to go with certainties. The assessments are made. We have to stay in the game without being hit by the event. That came out in Venice, we had a first half of enormous suffering, but in the second half we got back into the game and improved. Against Milan, after it went 2-2, I thought it would end in "tragedy", instead we did well to get hold of it again.
Will more balance be needed tomorrow?
We will see, at the moment we want to play in a certain way. If we want to do certain things, they have to be done 100 per cent. It is certainly a game in which we have to be mentally sharp, to know what plays we have to make. They are aggressive, they are not afraid. We have to have courage and know how to hurt Monza. First place means little, I do not look at the table. We are thinking only about Monza, then we will see. I do not get dizzy, it takes humility and the desire to keep surprising people.
Is there anyone in the squad with "Tavares-like" potential?
I said that I hate lazy people, who have enormous talent and think they cannot improve. I have known so many champions, I played with eight Ballon d'Or winners in my career, the difference is made by work and humility. It annoys me when I see talented people doing the bare minimum, because that is a waste. In sport you can always improve. These are not stock phrases. If we are where we are, we have to keep pedalling. I see people doing it, we are trying to do something new, I see enthusiasm and desire. It is hard work, I know. Sometimes I see tired faces. But everyone knows that if we want to play like this we have only one road, which is work and going hard.
Frattesi said he would walk from Milan to Rome. Would you?
I am very direct, with Davide I remember well what we said to each other when I was head coach. I would not have felt right with myself if I had not been direct with him. We all know his characteristics, for a period he had lost his way a bit and perhaps become a little too comfortable. Then I came here, we spoke, I pushed him to make the choice, it was not compulsory for him to come here. I do it with all the players, I have always had a wonderful relationship with them. I can have a problem, but the next day for me it is all over. It has often been said that I am someone who argues with players and presidents. I do not bear grudges, on the contrary, if I see honesty and intelligence I like the discussion. I have one flaw, I want things to be done properly when we step onto the pitch. Then if someone is tired I would rather not see him on the pitch: he tells me and I give him a rest, I prefer it that way. Two or three players who are not going as hard ruin an entire team. Anyone who knows me immediately knows what I am like.
What did you focus on during the break?
It was easy, we made them work hard and then we let them rest because we pushed hard and it was right for them to be with their families, except Cancellieri, who really did something big. I used to give the team little rewards in the form of days off, then they would come back and we would kill them in terms of workload.
Timetable from the treatment room?
That is why we arranged the statement, I think the best thing is for the doctor to come and explain the dynamics. With Marusic there was hope of getting him back sooner, there were small issues. For the rest we are on the right track, the one we had to be on. Cataldi has been training with the team for 5-6 days.
On Gudmundsson?
I said it, I am not a doctor, the idea is that for 10-12 days he has to remain out with his arm immobilised.
Up front, do the choices depend on the changes?
The best three start, then we will see what happens as the game goes on.
Will you speak to the club about Pellegrini?
We still have two places to fill, the club know what I think.
Do you speak to the club about the possible addition of another free agent if the market is blocked in January?
I speak to the sporting director every day. I speak little about football with the president. You have to understand things on a human and football level, there are many aspects. This is a group that works and gets on well together. A group that follows us. We have to be very good at not making mistakes, I strongly believe that. Then it depends on what the market offers us and what can be done. But on a human level we must not get anything wrong.
Did you meet the president, did you speak to him about the fans issue?
I cannot talk about the fans, it also becomes wearisome to keep saying the same things. I can do little, it is an issue between the president and the fans. The less I say about it the better. Then delicate topics get touched on, and anything said these days gets exploited. For me it is a shame to play in a stadium like the Olimpico without the fans. From now on I will not speak about this any more.