Italy: Gattuso debuts tonight, Chiesa not fully fit | OneFootball

On the eve of his debut on the bench of the National team, Gennaro Gattuso has presented the challenge against Estonia, a match that marks the beginning of his Azzurri adventure in a very delicate moment for the journey towards the 2026 World Cup.

Italy, Gattuso's debut tonight: "There's no time to get emotional. Chiesa? He's not 100% ready"

"From a human, tactical and professional point of view, I have to compliment the team: I couldn't have imagined better," the new coach told Sky. "I don't have time to get emotional because there's a lot of pressure. Maybe a bit of emotion will come at the start whistle, but I'm focused on what we have to do: the task is difficult, but we'll give it our all".

Team identity at the heart of the project

Gattuso emphasized that to achieve the qualification goal, technical aspects alone will not be enough: "We're talking about a sense of belonging and being a team. Our history tells us that the collective and the desire to fight together are part of our DNA. I found the boys charged and I saw many positive things: I think we're on the right track".

On the formation, the coach did not commit: "4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3? The numbers are not important, we know what we want to do and we have prepared the match well".

The Chiesa case: "We need people who are ready"

About the absence of Federico Chiesa, Gattuso clarified: "We talked, there was a desire to call him up but he was not 100% sure. He made me understand. For official competitions, we need people who are ready. That he's out of Liverpool's Champions list doesn't matter: it's up to him to regain space".

Barella: "Gattuso has given us serenity and confidence"

Nicolò Barella also spoke at the conference: "In recent times with Mancini and Spalletti there have been difficulties. Now the most important thing is to find ourselves and follow what the coach tells us. He has given us serenity and confidence, now it's up to us to repay all this".

On the challenge with Estonia, the Inter midfielder added: "We need to find cohesion, the one that distinguished us when we won the European Championship. The formation doesn't matter much, but we have to win and score because the goal difference is crucial. We need hunger, pride and the desire to have fun".

A qualification still possible but uphill

Italy needs a comeback in the standings to avoid the play-offs: six games to win, goals to score and a group finale that will culminate in the direct clash against Norway. Gattuso, meanwhile, asks for only one thing: a compact group willing to fight to the end.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.