Gennaro Gattuso does not hold the end of year celebrations in his heart, to say the least. Questioned on the eve of the last match of the first leg of Ligue 1 against Montpellier this Wednesday (9 p.m.), the coach of Olympique de Marseille warned his players: they must remain fully focused on this match, before think about reuniting with their families if they want to avoid poor performance. “I told the players to be careful not to think about vacations, dad, mom, grandma… We risk conceding goals otherwise,” he warned them.
And what better way to illustrate his points than his own example? “If I think about that period, I get a headache… I was crazy, I insisted on sleeping well, I was careful with my diet, the water I drank. My first years as a player, I had my wife who often talked to me about organizing Christmas, about gifts… it stressed me out. I finally told her she had to take care of it. The players must therefore remain focused on the pitch,” said Gattuso. Not sure that his players’ companions hear it that way.