Gattuso Reflects on Avellino Win and Baresi's Legacy

Gennaro Gattuso did not wait for the storm to pass. He walked straight through it.

After watching his side put six past Avellino in a 6-3 friendly win, the coach used the post-match microphones to slam the door on the recent fuss surrounding his dispute with Taylor, brushing it off as a brief internal flare-up that never threatened to derail his work.

For Gattuso, it was over almost as soon as it began.

“The other day someone enjoyed writing about Taylor, but that’s part of the game,” he said, via Alfredo Pedullà. “Those who know me know how I think, what my style is. For me it was all over after thirty minutes, and you saw that again this afternoon. We have to have this spirit.”

No lingering drama. No public feud. Just a coach determined to drag the focus back onto the pitch and the identity he is trying to stamp on his team.

And on the grass, he liked what he saw.

Gattuso highlighted the tactical strides his side is making, stressing the intensity and courage he demands without compromise. “The team is starting to do what we want, high pressure, a high line, going man to man. There’s enthusiasm, we’re working well, and it’s a pleasure to coach them.”

A 6-3 scoreline in pre-season can often hint at chaos, but Gattuso’s words pointed to structure: a team pushing up, hunting the ball, embracing the risk that comes with playing on the front foot. The result mattered less than the behaviours. The aggression. The willingness to go one against one all over the pitch.

Yet the night did not belong only to tactics and training-ground ideas.

Gattuso’s tone shifted when the conversation turned to Franco Baresi, the Milan icon who passed away on Friday. The former midfielder, who once shared a dressing room with the legendary defender, spoke with clear emotion about a captain who shaped a generation and redefined a position.

“Condolences to the family,” Gattuso said. “When I spoke to him I stood to attention: he was the captain, a man who spoke and smiled little, but those few words he said were never wrong.”

In a few lines, he drew the portrait of Baresi the leader: sparse with words, heavy with authority, a reference point for everyone around him. A presence you didn’t joke with, but one you followed without question.

Reflecting on Baresi’s legacy, Gattuso did not hold back on the scale of his admiration. “He was unique, a legend. He left us too soon, but he’s gone to keep company with many great champions. He’ll remain in the history of world football, he’d have deserved a Ballon d’Or for his career for the way he changed the libero role.”

From a simmering internal dispute resolved in half an hour to a sweeping tribute to a man who changed the game for decades, Gattuso moved between the present and the past with the same intensity he once showed in midfield. The friendly against Avellino offered goals and glimpses of a pressing, proactive side, but his words made one thing clear: the standards he chases today are still measured against giants like Baresi, and that is the level he expects his players to honour.