Gennaro Gattuso warned Napoli are “not cured” yet after a last-gasp 2-1 win at Sassuolo. “For a long time, this team didn’t have balance.”
Hamed Junior Traore had given Sassuolo the lead, but Allan equalised and deep into stoppages a corner was bundled over the line by a combination of Eljif Elmas and Pedro Obiang.
Gennaro Gattuso warned Napoli are “not cured” yet after a last-gasp 2-1 win at Sassuolo. “For a long time, this team didn’t have balance.”
Hamed Junior Traore had given Sassuolo the lead, but Allan equalised and deep into stoppages a corner was bundled over the line by a combination of Eljif Elmas and Pedro Obiang.
“We know that we’re still unwell, we hadn’t won for two months. This is a slight help, I knew we couldn’t be cured overnight, but this is a strong team and we’re starting to see something different,” the coach told Sky Sport Italia.
“This side doesn’t lack quality. It just needs balance and to enjoy its football. It played 4-3-3 for many years, so to do that we need to be tighter, to co-ordinate between the sections and I saw some of the work pay off today.”
Fabian Ruiz seemed angry when he was substituted and kicked the bench.
“We need to be perfect in order to play Fabian Ruiz in that role as the base of the diamond, but we knew that. We aren’t able to support him right now, it’s not his natural role and the most important thing is to get balance into this side, because for a long time it didn’t have that.
“We have to move with a chain reaction and we were too static. We know that we don’t have a player in that role to play a certain way, but these lads are working hard.
“I don’t want to speak to my players, I want to touch their souls. It’s the only way I can work. I know some players might not like me shouting at them 24 hours a day, that’s understandable, but it’s my way.”
After Allan’s equaliser, it was as if a weight had been lifted off Napoli’s shoulders and they changed attitude.
“Most of these players wrote important pages in the history books of Napoli and challenged for the Scudetto, but they are going through something right now that they haven’t experienced before.
“We have to cover the pitch better, continue working on our tactics and drilling the movements into them, then it’ll all seem more natural.”
Gattuso was asked about February’s Champions League showdown with Barcelona.
“Barcelona is a long way away. We know it’ll be a struggle against a very strong opponent, but we can focus first on Lazio, Inter and the other teams we have to face before Barcelona.”