Milan Boss Hits Out at 'Defective' Tiemoue Bakayoko After Humbling Napoli Defeat
Milan manager Gennaro Gattuso claims that he has not had enough time to remove Tiémoué Bakayoko's 'defects' after the Chelsea loanee failed to make an impact on his Serie A debut against Napoli on Saturday.
The Rossoneri took a two-goal lead thanks to strikes from Giacomo Bonaventura and Davide Calabria before Piotr Zieliński halved the deficit at the Stadio San Paolo.
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Summer signing Bakayoko was then brought on to shore up Milan's defence, but the Frenchman was helpless to stop Zieliński and Dries Mertens completing the turnaround for Carlo Ancelotti's side.
After a defeat in their first match of the new season, Milan boss Gattuso singled out Bakayoko and insisted that the midfielder has a lot of work to do if he wants to adapt to life in Italy.
"Bakayoko has to learn how to get the ball," Gattuso said in his post-match press conference, quoted by Goal. "We must work correctly. It will not be easy. One week is not enough to remove the defects of a player. I would have preferred to be managing older, more experienced club players."
Things won't get any easier for Milan on matchday three when they welcome AS Roma to San Siro, where Bakayoko is once again expected to miss out on a starting spot to Lucas Biglia and Franck Kessié.
After another summer of big spending where Milan saw 10 new players join their ranks, Gonzalo Higuaín was the only new arrival who started their opening match of the season, with the likes of Samu Castillejo, Mattia Caldara and Alen Halilović remaining as unused substitutes.
