GATTUSO: “WE MUST GIVE A TOP PERFORMANCE"
Coach Gattuso held the regular pre-match press conference at Milanello ahead of Thursday’s clash against Arsenal in Europa League. Before commenting on the opponents, his expectations on the match and the improvements of the Red and Blacks, the boss offered his condolences for the tragic loss of Davide Astori: “We have lost a great man of an incredible humbleness. He was a great player on and off the pitch. He is a great example for all young men. We will not forget him”.
THE MATCH
"We must give a top performance tomorrow. We can't make mistakes and need to keep our composure. We must not be afraid of the 70,000 fans that will be at San Siro and show our qualities, both technical and physical. We must make it very difficult for them".
ON ARSENAL
“Arsenal are not going through a positive period, but they have great players and have scored 18 goals in this Europa League. We have maximum respect for Arsenal. Only if we play a great game we will be able to avoid conceding goals. Compared to Wenger, I'm just a rookie. We are preparing for this match the best way we can. They are a very technical team that like to have the ball at all times. We must do well to hold them and to make them run when we have the ball".
THE IMPROVEMENTS OF THE TEAM
“We have definitely improved mentally, technically and tactically. Tomorrow we face a team that is having certain problems, but that has done better than us in the past years. We have shown to be in good conditions but we have to prove it once again tomorrow. The boys must face this match with intensity and be thankful for having such opportunity. Many players can only dream of playing a big match like this one. Apart from Bonucci and Biglia, our players have little experience in European competitions. This match will help us to raise the bar and to get used to big matches on the international scene".
PREPARING FOR THE MATCH
“You should ask Jack. I think he hates me after these last two days (smiles). All the running and working that we should have done on Sunday (Milan Deby postponed), we did it on the following days during training. We carried on, we even began to work on staff we had prepared for the upcoming international break".
(Photo LaPresse)
