Lazio will enter the international break at the top of the table after a 2-0 win away to Venezia, but Rino Gattuso’s assessment at the Penzo was deliberately more demanding than celebratory. Mattia Zaccagni’s penalty and Tijjani Noslin’s second-half goal delivered another three points and the strongest opening to a season in the club’s history, yet the coach saw a side that had survived a difficult first half before finding its authority.
A record start, with a warning attached
Gattuso said Lazio were fortunate not to be two goals behind at half-time. Venezia created enough in the opening period to justify such a lead, while Lazio were stretched and repeatedly exposed after losing possession. Their goalkeeper, Gattuso said, had kept them alive.
- Venezia put Lazio under pressure in the first half, with the visitors too elongated and vulnerable to passes played through their shape.
- Lazio held on, aided by their goalkeeper, before changing the balance of the contest after the break.
- Zaccagni opened the scoring from the penalty spot.
- Noslin added the second goal as Lazio began to put Venezia under sustained difficulty.
- The final whistle confirmed a 2-0 victory and another three points before the pause in the calendar.
“We were fortunate today,” Gattuso said. “We could have been two goals down in the first half. I saw too many mistakes and a team that was too stretched. Our goalkeeper kept us in the game. In the second half, though, we did well and caused them problems.”
The coach placed little value on early leadership of the standings. “Being first now means nothing,” he said. “We must believe in what we are doing, while knowing there is plenty of room to improve.”
Gattuso’s short-term benchmark was stated in practical terms: “Twenty-seven points short of safety, then we will see.” The line reflected a manager determined to keep Lazio’s early momentum connected to the work still required rather than to records or ambitions not yet earned.
From Mantova disappointment to a stronger league rhythm
The current run has followed a demanding start to Gattuso’s tenure. Lazio had been eliminated by Mantova and then completed a 50-day pre-season camp in extreme heat, but the coach praised the squad for never letting their effort fall away.
He nevertheless returned to the shortcomings at Venezia. Had the home side reached the interval with a two-goal margin, Gattuso said, it would not have been undeserved. Lazio’s route forward is a process, he insisted, and a team hoping to achieve something meaningful cannot begin matches as it did at the Penzo.
“If we want to surprise people, we have to do things properly,” he said. “Today we started badly. With every ball we lost, we allowed passes into space. We have to improve both on the pitch and in our mentality.”
Gattuso is due to attend a referees’ meeting on Monday before Lazio resume their work. The record-breaking beginning has not changed his approach. “I am relentless; I keep going,” he said. “When I am with my grandchildren, I can think about records and what I achieved. Now we have to continue working.”
Trust in the group and a message about the noise around football
The Lazio coach also addressed pre-season predictions that had placed him among the likeliest Serie A managers to lose his job first. In doing so, he echoed Daniele De Rossi’s recent criticism of the online conversation surrounding coaches and clubs.
Gattuso argued that too many people present themselves as journalists from behind headphones and screens, making the wider discussion difficult to control. His answer is to isolate the squad from it.
“You have to know how to shut it out,” he said. “I feel fortunate to coach these players. The important thing is not to read anything, to believe in your work and to have a group that arrives at the training ground and works properly.”
He credited the players for Lazio’s position, describing his own role as one of challenging them. The squad, he said, are trying to do something different and need courage to sustain it. They must also become better at reading matches, because Lazio cannot afford to drift out of games and then have to fight their way back into them.
Gattuso described a training environment in which he demands a great deal during sessions lasting around two and a half hours, then gives the players freedom afterwards. “They already struggle enough listening to my voice for two and a half hours,” he said.
Zaccagni, Belahyane and the work behind the start
Asked about Zaccagni’s absence from the national-team selection, Gattuso accepted it as a matter of choice for the Italy coach. He said he himself could have called many players in previous roles and understands the difficulty of such decisions.
“Zaccagni is my captain and I enjoy him,” Gattuso said. “But these are the coach’s choices. I have been through it: when you have to choose, it is never easy. I always made those choices in good faith.”
He also singled out Belahyane as an example of the commitment he wants from his players. The midfielder initially struggled physically and would visit Gattuso’s office to apologise when he could not manage. Gattuso told him to proceed step by step, and the player continued to train with the aim of improving.
“I like people who commit themselves,” the coach said. “I do not get on with lazy people; I like those who want to improve.”
Gattuso added that the turbulence surrounding Lazio had helped make the opportunity possible. He had been close to joining the club two or three times in the past but had turned down president Claudio Lotito. This time, he knew the difficulties but also sensed the players’ desire, having spoken to four or five of them before accepting the job.
Lazio have not achieved anything yet, Gattuso stressed, but there is satisfaction in the work completed so far. Even on San Gennaro’s day, despite receiving many messages, he said he replied only to his mother and father. The broader mood can wait. For now, Lazio’s unexpected early lead comes with the same instruction from their coach: keep working.
