by Bashmachkin Fri May 04, 2007 10:19 pm
Gattuso only made one foul in the first half, then two more in the second before he was booked for the incident involving Scholes. The referee perhaps could have booked him for his third foul before the Scholes incident, some referees might have, but this one didnt. And whilst at least two of Gattusos three fouls were clearly deliberate, to disrupt the play, none of them were dirty - unlike all of Scholes numerous fouls in the first leg. I dont appreciate tactical fouling at all, and would never desire my team or anyone elses to trip people on purpose, but Im more against vicious fouls. And both Heinze and Vidic made far more nasty fouls, similarly without being booked. The whole idea that Gattuso could have been booked in the first half and off early in the second is nonsense.
Anyway, Gattuso isnt the best player in the world and I agree that such destructive players like him tend to get too much praise for playing what often amounts to a limited role. I think its a very valid point that good defenders necessitate better attackers and obviously any successful team needs both, but ultimately I think theres a point to which a lot of defensive players are more limited than attacking ones - both have to read the game, but to be a top quality attacker requires a degree of natural talent, skill and quality on the ball, whereas defenders often simply read the game, get in the way of the ball, then get rid of it. I dont go with the idea that all teams need a destructive midfielder, not least because this often results in players without any class who simply sit in front of a teams defence and kick and trip whomever comes near. Man Utd had a bad game against Milan, but I do think their method this season of having midfielders who can pass the ball and cover defensively, whilst not having anyone who is primarily destructive in the sense of staying back and tackling, has worked well and can work if there is a proper balance.
That said, I do think Gattuso is one of the best in his role, because he reads the game so well, covers a lot of ground, and he can pass the ball properly too. I think hes maybe only behind Essien in that, with Cambiasso close, though I see him as a bit more creative than either.
Home
The ref should have given Gatusso a yellow card after the 2nd foul. He was clearly fouling Man U players as long as he got a yellow card. The referee whistled a good game but on that he was too tolerant!
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