Ancelotti on Gattuso before Real-Valencia: “We had problems”

by our correspondent Filippo M. Ricci

January 10th
– Madrid (thermal baths)

Carlo Ancelotti and Gennaro Gattuso. A strong bonda longtime acquaintance, fond memories. Tomorrow in Riyadh at the King Fahd Stadium they will face opponents in Real Madrid-Valencia, the semifinal of the Spanish Super Cup.

GREAT SINCERITY

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Ancelotti was asked about the status of his relationship with Gattuso, and in particular whether Rino’s succession on the Napoli bench he had just left had caused discontent, and Carlo was very sincere: “Together with Gattuso we lived very good moments, we won two Champions League, they were years and situations that I will always remember. Then… the relationship doesn’t always continue to be good, we had some problems and I don’t want to talk about them because they are personal things”. Evidently not everything went smoothly and Carlo had no difficulty in admitting it.

Heredity

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Then came another question. Did Gattuso take something from you as a coach? “Several coaches have come out of my teams, now I don’t remember them all but I think of Seedorf, Pirlo, Gattuso. And then to Nesta. And Shevchenko, and Inzaghi, who calls me for sure if I forget. It may be that they have learned something from me, then everyone puts something of him into it. Gattuso’s teams play intensely and have a very clear identity. Tomorrow against Valencia it will be tough: they are intense in the pressure, we will have to handle the ball better and play better in defense than we did against Villarreal, we must be more compact”.