GdS: ‘Who growls loudest?’ – Amorim and Gattuso braced for biggest tests yet

AC Milan face off against Lazio tonight in a capital clash that would be worth top spot for the potential winners.

La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) talks about a clash worthy of first place (at least for now), a milestone that – while holding little real weight just four games into the season – is nonetheless laden with significance.

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A Lazio victory would see Gennaro Gattuso pull ahead of Inter and Roma, who play on Monday. A Rossoneri win, meanwhile, would reignite Ruben Amorim’s side after the draw against Juventus. It comes down to a battle of who will growl the loudest.

Amorim wants aggression

Amorim preaches attack as the best form of defence, concepts he embodied off the pitch yesterday as well. Milan stalled in Turin, held to a draw by Juve after racing out of the blocks in the first two games.

He responded to the notion of criticism for that performance in his press conference: “I understand it’s hard to accept a young foreign coach telling you how to play football; there are those just waiting for us to stumble so they can call us to account for dropped points…

“But had we won in Turin, many would have kept their criticisms and questions to themselves for another week. That’s why I told the team we have to be perfect.”

The ‘noise of the enemy’ – a phrase made famous by another Portuguese coach, Jose Mourinho – is something Amorim senses around his new tactical project. It is a project that did take a step back in the last round, an admission the coach himself made,but he now intends to get back on track quickly.

“Criticism is normal. But I remember exactly the words I used: I said I wanted a team that dominates the pitch and always tries to score. We will always try, even if we don’t always succeed,” he would add yesterday.

Amorim holds fast to his identity and dismisses any comparisons to the ‘Como show’: “We are different clubs, and Fàbregas and I are different coaches. To replicate Como, you’d need to hire Como’s coach; my focus isn’t on them, but on us.

“We don’t copy anyone – and I could never be accused of doing so -because we have our own identity. We need time, as is natural, to build something new, and you buy time by winning matches.

“The era of the great Rossoneri champions has passed; we are living in a different time now. Yet, I don’t want anyone to forget where they are: at Milan.”

Amorim is calling for more aggression than last time, more courage, but also more energy. A Milan in the style of… Gattuso: “He is a legend; his passion went beyond his talent, and he serves as an example for our team, too.”

It comes down to attitude and individual quality: “With Modrić, we might lose a bit in terms of pressing, but he is crucial when we have the ball, and we want to have it as much as possible.

“Cisse handled the San Siro test without any fear and can do the same for the national team; if he gets called up, I know he’ll play with freedom. Pulisic? He’ll find space against Lazio. He’s frustrated because he hasn’t played yet, but let’s not forget he’s coming back from an injury.

“I won’t drop someone who is performing well just to field a ‘big name’ – that’s how I manage the team, and I won’t change that even for the best player in the world; I’ll stick to these principles to the end. Pulisic remains important, and he will play a lot.”

Rino’s derby

For Gattuso, this is a match close to his heart at the perfect moment. Rino Gattuso arrives at the showdown against his former club Milan sitting at the top of the table, a scenario not even the most incurable optimist could have predicted.

The credit for this unexpected success belongs entirely to ‘Ringhio’, who managed to build a solid and effective team. This is despite various adversities, ranging from the surrounding atmosphere to a transfer market constrained by a net zero spend rule.

The victories over Bologna and Udinese along with the home win against Genoa, were no fluke. They were the result of a clear project that is still in its early stages and has yet to be fully developed.

Beyond the emotional implications, the match against Milan serves as a litmus test for Gattuso, a potentially pivotal moment in the season. With the level of opposition rising (this is the first match against a ‘top’ club), his team is called upon to take another step forward.

“How far can we go? I’ve always maintained that it’s not about the destination, but about creating a positive environment and a specific mindset,” Gattuso told DAZN in an interview yesterday.

“We’ve changed a lot; last year there was a master like Sarri doing specific things. In a short time, we tried to dismantle everything – not because it wasn’t working, but because my vision is for a more aggressive and physical style of football.

“The formation matters little; it’s just a number. The difference lies in the interpretation: how you hold the pitch and how aggressive you want to be.” Coincidentally, these are the very qualities that enabled Rino to win everything there was to win while wearing the shirt of both Milan and the national team.

His present is Lazio. It is a chapter of his career that has only just begun, yet Rino already has the chance to write a historic page for his new club. After matching Maestrelli and Petkovic—the only Biancocelesti  coaches to win their first three league matches – he could now become the first ever to make it four in a row.

Indeed, never in its history has Lazio boasted a perfect record after the opening four rounds of Serie A. Achieving this milestone against his own Milan would feel like a twist of fate and might open up possibilities for Lazio that were unthinkable at the start of the season.

Yet Gattuso, a master of pragmatism and humility, prefers to keep his feet on the ground: “The goal remains to give the team an identity.”