Gattuso almost beats his player, outburst goes viral: "I don't like arrogant people"

Gennaro Gattuso has put behind him the surprising elimination in the Italian Cup by Mantova with a very good start to the championship. His Lazio is full of points after victories over Bologna and Genoa and the atmosphere, despite the usual dispute over the leaders, seems to have returned to calm within the group. Of course, there is no shortage of confrontations, even harsh ones, as shown by the footage of the exchange between the coach and his player Alfonso Pedraza during the last match. A situation that went around the world and fueled the debate on the need for such public outbursts: isn't there a risk of losing the trust of a footballer reprimanded in front of the whole world, instead of doing it inside the locker room?

Gattuso and Pedraza face each other on the pitch

The coach did not like the tactical approach of the Spaniard, who arrived from Villarreal during this transfer window. It is difficult to reconstruct in detail what they said to each other, with Gattuso most likely reprimanding his player for an ineffective tactical approach to stop Genoa's penetrations and especially those of Norton-Cuffy. Pedraza's reaction was not at all easy, on the contrary: the player justified himself by referring to a "man-to-man" way of covering, as can be heard in the audio recorded by the microphone. Gattuso did not go further, although he ended everything with what seemed like an insult.

Clarification after the end of Lazio-Genoa

The cameras then showed another explanation after the final whistle and the greeting between the teams. The two in the middle of the field spoke again about the situation in question, trying to find a point of contact. Gattuso was calmer and tried to explain the movements to the footballer, imitating them with body language and taking his hand. The atmosphere was less heated also thanks to the satisfaction of another positive result, which allows Lazio to remain with full points, 6 points in two weeks. A confrontation based on the principle of "clear things and long friendship", also for the continuation of the season.

Gattuso's words about the event

And right after the match, on the microphones of LazioStyleChannel, Gattuso, who had also been very brief regarding the transfer market, wanted to immediately close the matter, giving a clear message: "What did I say to Pedraza? There is not much to say, words are zero, I don't like arrogant people, we have to do the things we prepare. We could have read it better, we fell asleep, but it's over". It remains to be understood whether the reference to arrogance had to do with Pedraza's tactical attitude or with the way he reacted to the coach's reprimands. What is certain is that, in a not easy climate, you have to try to drive in the same direction to achieve important results: "If we want to play in a certain way, we have to do things well, mistakes are part of the game, we look ahead".

Gattuso like Guardiola, doubts on CBS Golazo

What is certain is that the Lazio-Genoa scenes also became topical outside Italy, as evidenced by the debate created on the CBS Sports Golazo show, always very popular. Former midfielder and analyst Niger Reo-Coker was categorical on this issue, criticizing the coach's action: "It's not a new situation for Gattuso. At the beginning of the summer he already took Taylor out of a training session because he was angry with another player. I can understand it, but it's not right. Listen, we've also seen Pep do things like this when he won trophies and nobody said anything, because it was Pep who behaved like this. But to do it immediately after a match... You won, do it in the locker room. For me, these things should be done in the locker room."

Why the footballer might not like the outburst in front of the whole world

In short, for the well-known CBS figure, Gattuso's behavior seemed like an attempt to imitate Guardiola: "I can understand the passion and everything, but what does it achieve by behaving like this on the pitch? Especially as a coach, when you know that there are already cameras everywhere. It doesn't help anyone. If I were a footballer, I wouldn't have any problem with a coach criticizing me or saying anything to me. But do it in the locker room, behind closed doors". We will see in the future whether he is right or not and what the relationship between Gattuso and Pedraza will be like.