Of Rino Gattuso there has been talk recently especially for the dispute with Ancelotti coming out before their clash in the Super Cup. But what most scares Valencia fans is the black period in which their team has gotten themselves. The elimination from the Copa del Rey, at the hands of Athletic who dined 3-1 at the Mestalla, is only the latest negative result of a bad spiral for the Murcielagos. At the end of the match, fierce protests by the fans should be noted, which however mainly concerned the club, which was in a serious financial crisis. Eliminated from the Super Cup and the Cup, now only Liga remains for the former Milan and Napoli team. The problem is that, after only 7 points in the last 9 championship matches, the bianconeri have left the noble areas of the standings that they frequented in the first weeks of the championship and they have now sunk to 12th place, just 3 points clear of the relegation zone. An unacceptable situation for a club that, despite a delicate corporate moment, aspires to very different goals. Furthermore, Mestalla, once a fort where the team managed to put even the big teams in difficulty, has now become a land of conquest. Before the Bilbao team, they had managed to pass already the Cadiz and the Majorca, certainly not the first in the class. The elimination now could leave some aftermath but Gattuso certainly cannot stop. Already in the next Liga challenge, he will go to visit that Valladolid, at this moment third last but within reach. A defeat to Ronaldo’s club would truly sanction one endless crisis for I growl and his.
Pressed by the Spanish media after the last stop in the championship and only one point in the last three outings in La Liga, Gattuso instead resorted to all his dialectic but, as usual, did not hide. “If we look at the standings, it certainly scares and worries, but it’s something that happens in football, we don’t have to think about it. There is only one direction to work, with professionalism,” he said. And on any form change requested by the press, he reiterated that the 4-4-2 is not for him. A move that has put the local press even more on a war footing. The country he wrote: “Valencia is a messy and bankrupt team, it is unthinkable, however, that it remains so close to relegation”. Now a new knockout blow in the Cup, Gattuso must take it and start again.
