Gattuso: Northern Ireland Is an Opponent We Can Handle; Loss to Norway Not Due to Formation or Tactics

After the draw for the UEFA World Cup Qualifying Play-offs, Italy manager Gennaro Gattuso accepted interviews with multiple media outlets.

He said: “We are focusing on the first game first. Northern Ireland is an opponent we can handle. It’s a team with its own style—very physical, good at competing for second balls, and the physical battles will be intense. We need to put on a good performance, but we have the chance to take them on.”

On the Training Camp:

“So far, we haven’t been in touch with the players. I didn’t disturb them these days; we need to recover from the embarrassing defeat at San Siro last week.”

“Our league has only reached the 11th round. We will regroup when we get to the 30th round. I will travel around to communicate with the players. Having one or two days of concentrated training will be crucial, and we also need to reschedule league fixtures in advance to prepare for the play-offs. Montella told me that the Turkish team will put forward a similar request to the Italian Football Federation—we’ll wait and see.”

On the 1-4 Loss to Norway:

“I’m sorry about the game a few days ago… Mentally, we thought we had made progress, but losing by four goals is very heavy, and I think it exposed our vulnerabilities. Even so, I will remember the first-half performance, but we shouldn’t have completely disappeared from the game like that in the second half.”

“The real problem is not the formation or tactics. If we do things right and stay competitive, we shouldn’t make mistakes like the ones in that game. My coaching staff and I must fix this. Next, we will study Northern Ireland to see how to deal with them and minimize errors.”