Gennaro Gattuso praised Patrick Cutrone for his “fire in the veins” and was surprised by Ignazio Abate’s centre-back performance as Milan beat Parma 2-1.
“Parma deserve credit, because it’s no coincidence they were only two points behind us going into this weekend. They’re well-organised, difficult to play against and if you give them space to run into, they’ll cause you problems,” Gattuso told DAZN.
Gennaro Gattuso praised Patrick Cutrone for his “fire in the veins” and was surprised by Ignazio Abate’s centre-back performance as Milan beat Parma 2-1.
“Parma deserve credit, because it’s no coincidence they were only two points behind us going into this weekend. They’re well-organised, difficult to play against and if you give them space to run into, they’ll cause you problems,” Gattuso told DAZN.
“We had a decent game, although perhaps in the first half we went overboard with the crosses. The second half, however, was excellent.”
Roberto Inglese’s header from a corner had put Parma ahead at San Siro, but a Cutrone volley equalised before the Franck Kessie penalty.
“He lives for the goal, he’s got fire in his veins and I’m happy for him. He even wiped out that cliché about him not doing well from the start. He has to keep going like this, as he can do so much better.
“Seeing Ignazio Abate do so well as a centre-back is also surprising. We need to be lucky as Coaches and work with intelligent players who can adapt to more or less anything. That is the secret of this team, everyone is ready to pitch in.”
When Gonzalo Higuain does return from suspension, and potentially Zlatan Ibrahimovic arrive in January, could they work in a trident attack with Cutrone?
“And what about Lucas Paqueta, where do we put him?” replied Gattuso with a sarcastic tone.
“There are another six games to go in 2018 and I like to play with attacking players, but we need balance. Right now we have to focus on these matches, then later we can think about how to make the best of the characteristics at our disposal.”
Gattuso was criticised for his substitutions by Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, who was in the stands again today.
“That’s the good thing about Italy, there are 60 million tacticians and they all have their views. We are all judged and everyone watches the games, so that’s fine. After a while, it can happen that a Coach gets annoyed and responds, though.”