Lazio head coach Gennaro Gattuso was left dejected after crashing out of the Coppa Italia at the hands of Mantova on his competitive debut.
Mantova Eliminates Lazio From the Coppa Italia
The Biancocelesti were sluggish in the build-up and wasteful in front of goal. In the 75th minute, their visitors took the lead through Francesco Ruocco, and then added insult to injury by scoring a second with the final kick of the game while Christos Mandas was at the other end of the pitch
Gennaro Gattuso Doesn’t Accept Excuses For Lazio Defeat
After the game, Gattuso spoke to the press (via Il Messaggero) but refused to discuss the transfer market or use the empty stadium as an alibi for the agonising defeat, instead admitting that fans and observers have every right to torch him and his players.
Tonight is a beating, and I’ll take responsibility for it. I’ll put my face to it. We need to apologise, because three months ago we were in a final and now we are here. We have a lot of work to do. The lads are giving it everything, and I don’t know of any easy games. We will come through this with hard work and without excuses.
I have to comment on a bad performance, a punch in the face. The transfer market is just an excuse. We’ll see what we can do in these final days, but today the players who were available took to the pitch and we should have won the game. Instead, we did things only halfway. I didn’t expect a game like this. It’s only right that people outside the club tear us apart.
Player Ratings: Lazio 0-2 Mantova – Dia Encapsulates Aquile’s Woes
What Should Lazio Work On
The Calabrian manager believes the only way forward for Lazio is to solve the plaguing issues they demonstrated on Sunday, especially their tendency to lose the ball in the opposite half of the pitch, forcing them to sprint back to defend a counterattack.
The game hurt me. We know we have to improve; we have strengths and weaknesses. The only way I know is to avoid making excuses and continue working to improve our shortcomings.
In the first half we made six or seven 70-metre sprints chasing back, and I was angry. In the second half we didn’t concede any counter-attacks, but we fell apart with fear at the first sign of difficulty.
Alessio Romagnoli’s Absence
Gattuso relied on Oliver Provstgaard and Danilho Doekhi at the back, while Alessio Romagnoli wasn’t part of the squad. The experienced Italian defender is facing an uncertain future, but Gattuso insisted that his absence had nothing to do with the market.
Alessio has had pain in his tendons for three days and was therefore not called up.
Lazio Players’ Best Roles on the Pitch
Finally, the Lazio boss opened up on the ideal positions for some of his players, revealing what he expects to see from his midfielder.
Noslin performs better when he starts from a wider position. He can also play as a striker, but I prefer him as a winger. Frattesi is a box-to-box midfielder who makes runs into the box, just like Dele-Bashiru. Taylor and Rovella need to invite the opponents to press them and then open up spaces. They’ve been playing like that for 40 days.
Dia scored nine goals under Baroni, while Noslin and Cancellieri have the qualities to do well. Today they had a few chances. I’m the coach and I have to put them in a position to put the ball in the net.