Gattuso praises Lazio's comeback against Udinese
Gennaro Gattuso hailed Lazio’s steel and spirit after they turned a losing night into a stirring 2-1 comeback win over Udinese – and then admitted his mind is already drifting towards an emotional reunion with Milan.
Lazio trailed to a second-half strike from Jesper Karlstrom, the Olimpico growing tense as memories of August’s Coppa Italia collapse against Mantova flickered in the background. This time, though, the response was ruthless. Davide Frattesi dragged them level, Albert Gudmundsson completed the turnaround, and Gattuso’s new-look side walked away with three precious points and a sense of identity beginning to form.
Gattuso’s new Lazio shows its teeth
What pleased Gattuso most was not the scoreline, but the reaction.
“The mentality and the desire,” he told Sky Sport, via TuttoMercatoWeb, when asked what had made the difference. He didn’t hide from the scale of the transformation he has tried to impose since arriving in Rome.
“We dismantled everything compared to last year, when there was a master of the 4-3-3, and we are trying to do something different,” he said.
That “master” is an obvious nod to the previous regime and its rigid structure. Gattuso has torn up the blueprint and asked his players to embrace a more demanding, less familiar approach. The early Coppa Italia exit to Mantova in mid-August, a 2026 tie that saw him raging on the touchline at the Stadio Olimpico, felt like a warning shot. On this evidence, the squad has taken it to heart.
“The lads are doing things well. What we are trying to propose is not easy, but the team is alive,” he insisted.
Alive is the key word. Lazio looked flat and predictable in that Mantova defeat; against Udinese, they looked angry, urgent, and willing to suffer. Falling behind did not break them. It woke them up.
Credit upstairs: Lotito and Fabiani backed the rebuild
Gattuso knows his ideas only work if the dressing room has the right profile of player. He made a point of pushing the praise upwards, towards president Claudio Lotito and sporting director Angelo Fabiani, for a transfer campaign that surprised even him.
“With great difficulty, we made a transfer market that we didn’t think we could make,” he admitted. “I have to thank both him and Fabiani; they deserve enormous credit for the players who arrived.”
It’s a rare public acknowledgment in a league where coaches often use the mercato as an excuse. Gattuso went the other way. He underlined the strain, the doubts, then underlined the outcome: Lazio ended up with a squad he believes can carry the weight of his tactical overhaul.
The win over Udinese, built on resilience and late-game conviction, felt like the first clear dividend of that work.
Milan on the horizon: the heart vs. the job
Now comes the fixture that tugs at his heartstrings. Milan. Twelve years of his life as a player. A club that shaped his career and his character.
“As a child, I remember the parade after the Steaua game with my father,” he recalled, evoking the night Milan celebrated their European glory over Steaua București. “For me, it was always an honour and a dream that lasted 12 years.”
The affection is obvious. The bond is permanent. But sentiment will not cloud his job description.
“All the affection and joy cannot be forgotten, but today I have another job and on Sunday I hope to take points from the team of my heart,” he said.
That is the tightrope he now walks: the warrior of Milanello trying to build something just as fierce in Rome. Udinese felt like a step in that direction. Milan will show how far this “alive” Lazio really is.
