Gattuso talks tough after Napoli’s win over Juventus
Gennaro Gattuso believes the entire Napoli team was always behind him as he reveals the amusing anecdote behind his new look after Juventus win.
The game was decided by a Lorenzo Insigne penalty and the saves of Alex Meret, who only came on after David Ospina sustained an injury in the warm-up.
Chucky Lozano finished the game with muscular problems and at the final whistle the players all clambered onto their coach to show support for under-fire Gattuso.
“We showed great heart and determination, Juve deserved something more, but my team was under pressure and fought hard to keep the clean sheet,” the coach told Sky Sport Italia.
“I never had doubts on this squad, otherwise I would’ve picked up my things and gone home. You can’t get anywhere without the faith of the players. I always felt they were ready to do what I asked and that’s what matters.”
Did Gattuso feel he might be cursed when David Ospina pulled out in the warm-up?
“That’s football, when it rains, it pours. You can’t just cry over spilt milk, we just have to keep going and try to get some players back to full fitness. It’s been like that all year, I basically never had the strikers available.
“We conceded two incredible goals against Atalanta midweek, but today we broke the lines well. I want to single out Amir Rrahmani for working so hard despite getting very little playing time, and Nikola Maksimovic, whose contract is running down, yet he is giving his all. Mistakes can happen, we don’t have much time to work, but we try to do it with the defence always.”
This is the first time since 2011, under Walter Mazzarri, that Napoli have won back-to-back Serie A games against Juventus.
Yet he was considered to be on the verge of dismissal for weeks with endless media speculation on his status.
“Many things have been said, but I like to be judged for what I do. What I don’t like is when I am insulted on a personal level. I don’t allow that from anyone.
“You can think I’m a bad coach, fine, whatever, but I am prepared to chase you down and shout under your window one by one if it’s a lie,” continued Gattuso.
“I don’t know where we’d be right now without COVID and injuries, but this is an anomalous season. You wake up in the morning and don’t know what’s going to happen next.
“Considering the squad and the form the players were in towards the end of last season, I think we could’ve had our say.”
Gattuso’s new look did not go unnoticed, but as always with Rino, there’s an amusing anecdote behind why he shaved off the beard.
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“Do you want to know what happened? I’ll make you laugh. I didn’t want to visit the barber, who talks too much, so I asked to borrow Valerio Fiori’s razor. I think he got it in 2003, because straight away I ran it down the beard and it left a massive hole.
“I had to make do after that, I look like Lando Buzzanca (film comedy star of the 1970s).”