Lazio president Claudio Lotito says he and coach Maurizio Sarri have a good relationship.

Lotito insists they've never fallen out during Sarri's time as coach.

He told Radio Serie A: "He is a great football teacher, a particular person, a fundamentalist who however gets along well with me.

"We have never argued. If anything we have had dialectical confrontations, some perhaps heated. I think he has respect and consideration of my person and he expressed this in an interview that struck me with the words used.

"Faced with some situations, who was right? For posterity the arduous sentence. In the summer Ricci and Berardi were asked for and I attempted to achieve these objectives, but I have received requests beyond all logic not only for the economic value, but rather for the value of the player in relation to his age.

"We took Rovella and I don't think he is inferior, just as I don't think that whoever arrived is inferior to Zielinski who, however, remains on the market. I don't think he has all these buyers. Berardi the same, I see him still there. The path is a little longer and I understand it, Sarri will have to work hard to enhance the players and he knows how to do it. He knows how to teach.

"He won against the strongest and lost against the weakest, which is why the reproaches are on the mentality. You must demonstrate that you are a great team through mental toughness, always expressing one hundred percent of your potential. I saw Milan-Udinese: aggression, determination and concentration evident from the visiting team. They seemed furious. This is what I reproach the team for, because if they took to the field with my determination that I also carry forward in other fields, it would be different.

"You can have ideas, but if you don't bring malice and competitive fury, the others certainly won't move."