Lazio have turned an uneasy opening in the cup against Mantova into a forceful start to the league season. In five Serie A matches, Gennaro Gattuso’s side have collected 13 points, set several club landmarks and made physical intensity the clearest feature of their early campaign. The work of the summer retreat, demanding even in severe heat, has quickly become visible on Sunday afternoons.
The coach and the club
Gattuso arrived aware that the club had difficulties to address, but he also sensed a group ready to work. His answer has been to demand running, pressure and explosive effort from the outset. “Training has to hurt the muscles,” has been one of the coach’s defining messages.
Lazio have covered more ground than every opponent across their first five league fixtures. They ran 115 kilometres at Bologna, compared with Bologna’s 110; 125 against Genoa, who reached 123 under Daniele De Rossi; 120 at Udinese against the home side’s 116; 121 against Milan, whose total was 119; and 118 against Venezia, who recorded 112.
The numbers were especially striking in Venezia, where five Lazio players exceeded 10.5 kilometres. Sutalo registered 10.611 kilometres and Frattesi led the way with 11.301.
The coach wants more players involved in attacking phases, a demand that requires both pace and endurance. When Lazio have maintained that rhythm, their victories have appeared straightforward; when the intensity has dropped, the side have looked more vulnerable and stretched.
Gattuso pointed to the issue after Venezia. He said Lazio had spent the first half too deep, with six players dealing with two opposing forwards in their own half, before improving sharply after the interval. He identified the same need for greater consistency after the Milan match, though there the pattern had been reversed: Lazio grew into the first half before struggling later on.
“I knew there were problems here, and that was one reason I accepted,” Gattuso said. “I could feel that the players wanted to work. But we have achieved nothing yet. Thirteen points? We are still 27 short of being safe.”
A record-setting opening
The pause in the calendar has offered Lazio a chance to measure an opening that carries significance beyond the current table.
- Thirteen points from five matches is Lazio’s best start in Serie A history when all seasons are calculated using three points for a win.
- They have won four of their first five league games for only the third time, following 1934-35 and 2008-09.
- Three of those five matches ended with a Lazio clean sheet, something not achieved at this stage since 2006-07, when Delio Rossi was in charge.
- Lazio have won each of their first three away fixtures for the fourth time, after 1972-73, 2002-03 and 2017-18.
The figures support the impression of a side transformed quickly after the cup disappointment. Yet the next step is not simply to run farther than opponents, but to make that energy reliable across entire matches. Only then can Lazio give real weight to hopes of competing for European positions that had appeared out of reach.
Work resumes after the break
Gattuso granted his squad five days away from training, with the break ending on Friday. Lazio will then face Arezzo in a friendly on Sunday, followed by another test against a Serie B side.
The coach has indicated that he will assess the group after those matches before deciding whether anything needs changing. The coming 20-day preparation period will not be gentle, even after an exhausting summer programme.
Gattuso has nevertheless praised the response of his players. He said they arrive at the training ground smiling, despite the high demands placed upon them, adding that he gives them freedom away from the work because they already have to listen to him for two and a half hours each day.
For now, Lazio’s season has been built on that bargain: an unforgiving training field, a willing squad and a league start that has placed Gattuso’s team at the summit after an abrupt early stumble.
