Gattuso Reflects on Team Unity and Baresi's Legacy
Gennaro Gattuso did not bother with a slow build-up. After watching his side hit six past Avellino in a 6-3 friendly win, he went straight for the issue that had been circling around his camp.
The row with Taylor? Closed. Quickly.
Speaking after the game, with his words relayed via Alfredo Pedullà, Gattuso made it clear he had no intention of letting the story drag on. The internal matter, he stressed, had been resolved inside half an hour and left no scars on the dressing room.
He pointed to the performance as proof. The intensity was back, the unity visible.
“The other day someone enjoyed writing about Taylor, but that’s part of the game,” he said, brushing aside the noise.
Those who know him, he reminded everyone, already understand his methods and his mentality. For him, the episode ended after 30 minutes – and, as he underlined, the team’s display against Avellino showed exactly that. The spirit he demands was there.
On the pitch, that spirit took a very clear tactical shape. Gattuso sounded genuinely satisfied with what he saw.
“The team is starting to do what we want,” he explained. High pressing, a high defensive line, going man to man. Not just slogans, but visible patterns.
There is enthusiasm in the group, he noted, work on the training ground is paying off, and for a coach who lives every session at full tilt, it is “a pleasure to coach them.”
The night, though, did not belong only to systems and scorelines.
Gattuso’s tone shifted when he spoke about the loss that has shaken Milan’s history and his own past: the passing of Franco Baresi on Friday. The former midfielder, who grew up under Baresi’s shadow at Milan, offered a raw, heartfelt tribute to his old captain, a man he described as a giant who reshaped the libero role for the modern game.
“Condolences to the family,” Gattuso said, before recalling how Baresi’s presence alone commanded respect.
When he spoke to him, he admitted, he would instinctively stand to attention. Baresi was the captain in every sense: few words, almost no theatrics, but a voice that never missed the mark when it finally broke the silence.
Gattuso did not stop there. He framed Baresi not just as a Milan icon, but as a unique figure in the global story of the sport.
“He was unique, a legend,” he said, lamenting how soon he had gone, yet picturing him now among other great champions who have already left the stage.
For Gattuso, Baresi’s place is secure: he will remain in the history of world football, a defender who deserved a Ballon d’Or for the way he transformed the position of libero and redefined what a back-line leader could be.
On a night when his own team showed signs of tactical clarity and renewed togetherness, Gattuso’s words drew a straight line from past to present: from the standards set by Baresi to the demands he now places on his players.
