Gennaro Gattuso Urges Milan to 'Look Forward' Following Dramatic Win Over Udinese
Gennaro Gattuso was keen to not dwell on his team's dramatic 1-0 win at the Stadio Friuli.
Milan were able to take all three points after captain Alessio Romagnoli scored in the 96th minute, an additional one minute over the allotted time. The goal was Romagnoli's second stoppage time winner in as many games and this latest result signals an up-turn in form pushing the Rossoneri up to fourth in the Serie A.
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Gattuso, as quoted by Football Italia, told Sky Sport Italia following the game: "We have to look forward. We weren’t useless before and we’re not suddenly world-beaters now. We have to fight it out, pick up points wherever we can. The victories do help us feel like the ball isn’t 100kg and our shoulders aren’t drooping under the weight of the pressure.
"We’ve got to prepare now for Betis, because we know that when they pass it around, that causes us problems. The defensive line moved well today, but also Bakayoko and Kessie provided protection and when they pushed forward, they didn’t leave a gap behind them.
"We knew that we’d have to win a few duels. Having Bakayoko there with his physicality gives us another alternative with long balls to be knocked down.
"It would’ve been easy to look for alibis with all these injuries, as people can start putting the blame on fitness coaches or the medical staff, but we stayed quiet, worked hard and all took on our share of the responsibility."
Gattuso also lamented his team's recent injury problems. Davide Calabria, Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Giacomo Bonaventura and Lucas Biglia were all ruled out before the game. To make matters worse Gonzalo Higuain was forced off after 35 minutes with an apparent back injury.
Gattuso said: "We suffered, we arrived with many injuries, but I think we deserved the victory.
"Udinese are a very physical side, aggressive and dangerous on set plays too. I liked our performance and attitude a great deal, so now we hope to get Pipita, Calabria, Calhanoglu and Bonaventura back soon.
"Higuain felt a twinge in his back. He had problems there before and surgery seven or eight years ago, but it doesn’t seem to be anything serious. I hope it’s not serious."
Gattuso will prepare his team for a midweek game against Real Betis before they face Juventus next Sunday at the San Siro as they will hope to continue their good run of form.
