Milan, 20 Oct. (LaPresse) – ‘Lazio are a revitalised side who are enjoying themselves. Gattuso must have found the right words. If they were to qualify for the Champions League, it would be something truly special’. Gigi Buffon said this during an interview with *La Gazzetta dello Sport*, speaking about his friend Rino Gattuso’s Lazio side. “Rino has found the right formula at Lazio, but he’s wrong to say he wouldn’t be chosen: I’d always want someone like him; through humility, he’s become a great manager. He was the classmate who wasn’t a genius but who, by working incredibly hard, got excellent marks. He studies because he’s proud, and when he does something, he doesn’t want to be just one of the crowd,” he added. “In Rino, I see Lippi’s influence in the way he manages the squad and brings out the best in every player. You all know that the players would have walked through fire for him, just as they would for Marcello,” Buffon continued. Finally, the former Italy captain defended the choice of Gattuso as manager. “I knew that, with very little time at his disposal, he would forge a bond with the team, instil empathy and a sense of belonging, and – beyond all the prejudices and labels he’s always had to contend with – he would prove to be a competent manager. He’d been on the bench for twelve years, with the experience and, above all, the perfect charisma to lift the national team out of that identity crisis,” he concluded.
Football, Buffon: ‘Gattuso is like Lippi; under him, Lazio have been revitalised’
Milan, 20 Oct. (LaPresse) – ‘Lazio are a revitalised side who are enjoying themselves. Gattuso must have found the right words. If they were to qualify for the Champions League, it would be something truly special’. Gigi Buffon said this during an interview with *La Gazzetta dello Sport*, speaking about his friend Rino Gattuso’s Lazio side. “Rino has found the right formula at Lazio, but he’s wrong to say he wouldn’t be chosen: I’d always want someone like him; through humility, he’s become a great manager. He was the classmate who wasn’t a genius but who, by working incredibly hard, got excellent marks. He studies because he’s proud, and when he does something, he doesn’t want to be just one of the crowd,” he added. “In Rino, I see Lippi’s influence in the way he manages the squad and brings out the best in every player. You all know that the players would have walked through fire for him, just as they would for Marcello,” Buffon continued. Finally, the former Italy captain defended the choice of Gattuso as manager. “I knew that, with very little time at his disposal, he would forge a bond with the team, instil empathy and a sense of belonging, and – beyond all the prejudices and labels he’s always had to contend with – he would prove to be a competent manager. He’d been on the bench for twelve years, with the experience and, above all, the perfect charisma to lift the national team out of that identity crisis,” he concluded.