Lazio leads Serie A alone, an achievement not seen in sixteen years. The 2010-11 season was the last time the white-and-sky-blue, then coached by Edy Reja, had a surprising start that kept them at the top of the table from matchday five to ten, being sole leaders in the last two weeks of that period. There are many parallels with today’s Lazio, starting with the little faith placed in the team at the start of the championship. Another similarity is the coach who, like Gattuso before arriving at Formello, had led Napoli as the last side in Serie A and Hajduk Split as the last club overall. That Lazio, after a autumn as leaders, spent the whole season in the top four, finishing fourth, level on points with Udinese, but were ranked fifth due to a worse goal difference, which prevented the Romans from qualifying for the Champions League. Edy Reja still finds it hard to accept this: “Losing the Champions League that way hurts, even after all these years…”
Reja believes Gattuso is making a journey very similar to his own, even “even better, because he is winning almost all the matches”. Asked whether he regrets no longer being the coach of Lazio’s sole leaders, Reja answers flatly: “Absolutely not. Lazio has remained in my heart, so seeing them at the top alone fills me with joy, without any other consideration.” He stresses that the parallels between his Lazio and the current one are indeed numerous. “Yes, the context is very similar. Even for our chances there was distrust and skepticism. But then we proved everyone wrong.”
The former coach believes that even if Gattuso were to reach fourth place, as he did, it would be a miracle. “I say yes, but I go further. In my view, Lazio must keep living day by day, but without setting limits for itself. It must leave nothing untried, as it is in fact doing. This is a strange championship, and a surprise ending is not ruled out. In ten weeks, Lazio has shown widely that it can stay at the top of the table. It must persevere and keep believing it can stay up there.”
Regarding the difficult match against Cagliari, Reja says it was “completely normal”. “Within a championship there are matches like this. And then it was the third match in eight days. We must also not forget that Cagliari is a very good side. For this reason I say that yesterday’s success, although less brilliant than the others, is very important. Winning matches like this is a sign of a team that is becoming more and more mature.” He also highlights the contribution of Pinamonti, who had not shone much until now, as a very positive aspect. “Gattuso is managing to involve all the players, and keeps expanding the squad from match to match.”
However, Reja expresses regret about the empty stands. “And this is truly unpleasant. For me, Gattuso’s team deserves all the love of the public. I hope the fans reconsider and return to the stadium soon.”