Gattuso Accuses Of Limited Player Stocks The Cause For Napoli To Draw Against Atalanta

JAKARTA - Napoli coach Gennaro Gattuso said he made changes to his team's formation against Atalanta in the Italian Cup due to the limited number of players available.

Napoli played a goalless draw at home to Atalanta in the first leg of the Italian Cup semifinal. In that match, Napoli used a 3-4-3 formation which they were not used to playing.

"We changed it (formation) to 3-4-3, but also had to make some choices, because we have Piotr Zielinski and Eljif Elmas who are tired and we have to rest them at one point," Gattuso told RAI Sport.

"Our tests show a lot of players who are not 100 per cent fit. Tiemoue Bakayoko, Stanislav Lobotka and Diego Demme cannot play as mezz'ala (half wing players), so we have to do something," he added.

It is the first time Napoli have used a back three in a competitive match since May 2013.

"I saw Atalanta struggling a little against a three-man defense, so we tried it on one day of training and it went well," said Gattuso.

The coach also did not rule out the possibility of returning to use this formation in future matches. But of course, he will take into account the players available, the conditions the players are in, and the characteristics of the players.

In the match against Atalanta, Hirving Lozano was played as a false 9, while in the side position were Matteo Politano and Lorenzo Insigne. Unfortunately, they did not create many opportunities.

"I think Politano and Lozano should be a little closer to Insigne. I can't play Andrea Petagna from the start, if he's injured what will we do? Will I and you wear the shirt and play? We don't have any more players," complained Gattuso. .

"Insigne has a problem in his calf, it hurts and we will evaluate it tomorrow. Dries Mertens is still in Belgium, and it will take a little bit more time. Fabian Ruiz is still positive for COVID-19, but if I'm not mistaken tomorrow is the 21st day since he is positive for the first time, so he can ask permission to train alone in the field and leave his house, "he concluded.