Lazio’s early place at the top of Serie A, built on 13 points from five matches, has also become a story of recoveries under Rino Gattuso. Several players whose futures had appeared uncertain have returned to the centre of the project, giving the coach solutions across the side as the season begins to take shape.
Gattuso’s trust reshapes the squad
Nuno Tavares is the clearest example of the change. The Portuguese left-back had been expected to leave until 23 August, but his brief appearance in the final 12 minutes at Bologna the following day, when he replaced Pedraza in the opening league fixture, altered his course.
Gattuso quickly installed the 26-year-old in the starting line-up and has again drawn out the force that made Tavares so influential at the beginning of the 2024-25 campaign under Marco Baroni. His pace down the left remains a major attacking outlet, with the defender often advancing like a winger.
There is an added detail in Gattuso’s approach: Tavares is now asked to move inside at times, creating room on the flank for a team-mate to attack. That movement has made him part of Lazio’s forward thrust rather than simply an overlapping full-back. Two assists have underlined the return of a strength which had brought him eight assists in the first eight rounds of the 2024-25 season.
- Tavares had looked set for a departure before being restored to the side.
- Reda Belahyane has become an answer in midfield after Nicolò Rovella was injured in the second matchday.
- Tijjani Noslin has supplied goals while leading the attack.
- Matteo Cancellieri has justified Gattuso’s decision to block a possible exit.
Answers in midfield and attack
Belahyane had waited a year and a half for a convincing opening, having failed to establish himself under either Baroni or Maurizio Sarri. Rovella’s absence placed the former Verona player in the holding role, and the 22-year-old has responded with authority at the centre of Lazio’s midfield.
His contribution has extended beyond ball circulation. When required, Belahyane has also dropped into the defensive line to provide an additional defender. With Rovella still awaiting his return, he is increasingly presenting himself as a reliable option for Gattuso in that position.
Noslin, meanwhile, has addressed the doubts that had followed him since his arrival in the summer of 2024. Gattuso selected the 27-year-old Dutchman through the middle of his attacking three for the last two fixtures, ahead of Andrea Pinamonti, who was not yet fully fit. Goals against Milan and Venezia have brought Noslin’s centre-forward qualities into view and added another attacking resource.
Cancellieri had also seemed likely to move on, particularly with his contract due to expire next summer. Gattuso opposed a sale, valuing the 23-year-old’s energy on the right while Gustav Isaksen works to recover his form. Cancellieri’s goal against Milan reinforced that choice, while his willingness to cover the whole flank matches the coach’s demands of his wide players.
Confidence at the back and returning options
Gattuso’s decisions have mattered just as much in the defensive department. Christos Mandas was entrusted with the goalkeeping role from the outset, despite returning from a Bournemouth loan without making an appearance. The 25-year-old Greek goalkeeper has repaid that confidence, with his saves contributing to Lazio’s leading position.
His penalty save at Venezia was among the important interventions in the opening run, offering further evidence that the coach’s faith has given Mandas a route back into prominence.
- Mandas returned from Bournemouth without a match appearance but has become Lazio’s first-choice goalkeeper.
- Romano Floriani, 23, came back from his loan spell at Cremonese and was moved into the right-back role after Marušić’s injury.
- Floriani is a product of Lazio’s academy and has responded to the opportunity offered by Gattuso.
- Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, used extensively during pre-season, was injured in the opening league game but has now recovered.
Dele-Bashiru, the 25-year-old Nigerian midfielder capable of covering multiple areas of the pitch, now aims to work his way back into Gattuso’s plans. Lazio’s promising opening has therefore been shaped not only by results, but by a coach finding fresh use for players who had seemed peripheral, unsettled or simply overdue an opportunity.
