Gennaro Gattuso says that it will not be easy for his players to play at their home stadium this coming season due to ongoing supporter protests and has had his opportunity to send his best to Roberto Mancini and the Italy national team after Lazio’s 1-0 victory away against Bologna on Monday evening.
Gattuso, who was beaten by Serie B opposition in the first round of the Coppa Italia last weekend, got his Serie A career with Lazio off to a winning start thanks to a second-half strike from substitute Davide Frattesi away against Bologna at the Dall’Ara on Monday evening.
Click here to see how the action unfolded on the Football Italia Liveblog.
Gattuso on Bologna 0-1 Lazio, Olimpico boycott and a check-in from Mancini
Speaking to DAZN after full-time, Gattuso insisted that there wasn’t an awful lot of change in the week between the Coppa Italia loss against Mantova and their victory over Bologna.
“I don’t think anything has changed compared to last week,” Gattuso said (via TMW). “We still have work to do, we still have a lot of things to improve. But, I thought the attitude out of possession was very, very good, we always did things properly.
“It’s a journey, we’ve had a lot of changes, we’re coming from a completely different style of football and that takes time. But it’s a pleasure to coach these guys, they’ve put their heads down and got to work.
“We’re well aware of the situation in front of us. We thank the 4,000 people who came to the stadium and made themselves heard today. It’s not easy to play at home. That’s not an excuse, I always say the same to the players, but we know it. We still have a path in front of us, we still need to grow and in my opinion we still have to improve on a few different aspects.”
Gattuso was pushed further on his comments about the expected difficulty of playing at home in front of a tiny crowd due to the ongoing supporter protests at the Stadio Olimpico.
“You know as well as I do that it’s not easy at all to play in a stadium like the Olimpico. Even with four or five thousand there, you start to make a few mistakes and you hear and feel it. You have to be strong mentally, we have to work on that as well.”
Gattuso was uninterested in discussions about potential transfer dealings in the final week of the window.
“Honestly, it’s not even right to talk about the transfer market right now. Let’s enjoy this win, all the guys deserve it, they gave us everything and now let’s see what happens in the future.”
Among the spectators at the Dall’Ara was Roberto Mancini, who has replaced Gattuso as head coach of the Italy national team.
Gattuso was given an opportunity to send a message to Mancini, but declined to address him directly: “No, I feel like saying he’s a great coach, has great experience. I had 10 wonderful months (with the national team) and the guys I coached gave me everything.
“It’s a pain that will remain open as long as I live because it was such a deep wound. We were knocked out (of World Cup qualifying) because of isolated incidents. We still created something positive and I wish them all the best. I wish them well because that’s what football in our country needs.
“Mancini is a great coach, he’s somebody who’s already won with the national team and I obviously wish him the best as well, from the bottom of my heart, without false pretences.”
