01-02-2018, 01:17 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-02-2018, 01:19 PM by ACMILAN1983.)
It's interesting seeing the change in attitude towards Gattuso in the press. Football Italia put out a feature the other day about how there's room for optimism in Milan with him, with Tuttosport and Gazzetta both talking up his influence and possible improvements in 2018 this morning. It's good to see, because we need as much positivity as we can get around Gattuso and the side.
I'm also pleased for him because despite results being poor, his work is being acknowledged. On this note, I don't think results are his fault, I think he's been handed a terrible situation and is doing what he can to try and force his way out of it.
Instead, I think his influence in the side is starting to show. First and foremost I think we're seeing better teamwork than we saw under Montella in pretty much all of 2017. I praised Montella last season, but much of that was born from his work in the first half of the season, with seeds of doubt coming in during the second half. What's important is under Gattuso, I think players show a greater sense of belonging and willingness to work for each other than we saw before. This is evident in the way that Andre Silva's been marginalised of late. I'm a fan of the player, but he is still very individualistic and right now imo Cutrone offers much greater teamwork and balance to our side. Not to say I write of Silva at all, when he's come off the bench, he's done pretty well on the pitch in the last couple of games and really showed a hunger up front to work for the team.
I also think Gattuso's shown solid tactical acumen. He's making changes tactically as needed and in some instances has worked on the overall game to be more aggressive, both on and off the ball. In this instance, we're quicker and more direct in the transition into attack, while defensively we show greater urgency to win the ball back than we have done before.
Results are paramount, we've dropped a lot of points and unfortunately under Gattuso we've had arguably the worst results of the season at Benevento and Verona. However, I find it hard to pin much of it down to him and instead feel the problems have been the result of the culmination of failures in the season thus far. Now we need to get results, as dropping them needlessly will be taking steps back.
I think there's reason to be hopeful though. Under Gattuso, there's been steps forward in our play. We put in a couple of very good performances, especially vs Verona in the Coppa. Meanwhile, the Inter and Fiorentina matches were crucial for our season. Beating Inter in the coppa was big, as not only did we win the derby in a knockout situation in possibly the most vulnerable point in our season so far, but we finally won a match against one of the top teams and we went the distance which is a huge step forward physically and mentally. Let's be honest, I don't think anyone would believe we'd have the legs under Montella to play 120 minutes and have the mental strength to keep up concentration and determination through the whole match.
The Fiorentina match was different, we dropped deeper than I'd like but honestly that's understandable following the coppa match. Fatigue clearly played its part, but what was clear was we had a resiliance we've not shown enough this year. More than that, we actually recovered after going a goal down to get something out of the game, which again is something we've not seen this year.
Gattuso's not been perfect, I disagree with his choice of insisting on Kalinic and Borini (and even Abate) and hope this will stop. Likewise, I think he's had a few moments tactically where he has made the wrong choice, which is normal for any coach. The key is, we're seeing progress under him. We're seeing a better approach to the game and now we're starting to see a little backbone and personality starting to creep into the side. We don't look scared shitless anytime something goes wrong now and fundamentally that's a huge step forward for this group.
Hopefully, Rino can get the results now and we can look forward to a postive 2018.
I'm also pleased for him because despite results being poor, his work is being acknowledged. On this note, I don't think results are his fault, I think he's been handed a terrible situation and is doing what he can to try and force his way out of it.
Instead, I think his influence in the side is starting to show. First and foremost I think we're seeing better teamwork than we saw under Montella in pretty much all of 2017. I praised Montella last season, but much of that was born from his work in the first half of the season, with seeds of doubt coming in during the second half. What's important is under Gattuso, I think players show a greater sense of belonging and willingness to work for each other than we saw before. This is evident in the way that Andre Silva's been marginalised of late. I'm a fan of the player, but he is still very individualistic and right now imo Cutrone offers much greater teamwork and balance to our side. Not to say I write of Silva at all, when he's come off the bench, he's done pretty well on the pitch in the last couple of games and really showed a hunger up front to work for the team.
I also think Gattuso's shown solid tactical acumen. He's making changes tactically as needed and in some instances has worked on the overall game to be more aggressive, both on and off the ball. In this instance, we're quicker and more direct in the transition into attack, while defensively we show greater urgency to win the ball back than we have done before.
Results are paramount, we've dropped a lot of points and unfortunately under Gattuso we've had arguably the worst results of the season at Benevento and Verona. However, I find it hard to pin much of it down to him and instead feel the problems have been the result of the culmination of failures in the season thus far. Now we need to get results, as dropping them needlessly will be taking steps back.
I think there's reason to be hopeful though. Under Gattuso, there's been steps forward in our play. We put in a couple of very good performances, especially vs Verona in the Coppa. Meanwhile, the Inter and Fiorentina matches were crucial for our season. Beating Inter in the coppa was big, as not only did we win the derby in a knockout situation in possibly the most vulnerable point in our season so far, but we finally won a match against one of the top teams and we went the distance which is a huge step forward physically and mentally. Let's be honest, I don't think anyone would believe we'd have the legs under Montella to play 120 minutes and have the mental strength to keep up concentration and determination through the whole match.
The Fiorentina match was different, we dropped deeper than I'd like but honestly that's understandable following the coppa match. Fatigue clearly played its part, but what was clear was we had a resiliance we've not shown enough this year. More than that, we actually recovered after going a goal down to get something out of the game, which again is something we've not seen this year.
Gattuso's not been perfect, I disagree with his choice of insisting on Kalinic and Borini (and even Abate) and hope this will stop. Likewise, I think he's had a few moments tactically where he has made the wrong choice, which is normal for any coach. The key is, we're seeing progress under him. We're seeing a better approach to the game and now we're starting to see a little backbone and personality starting to creep into the side. We don't look scared shitless anytime something goes wrong now and fundamentally that's a huge step forward for this group.
Hopefully, Rino can get the results now and we can look forward to a postive 2018.