Milan & Italy legend Baresi: ‘Gattuso is among the least responsible for the defeat’

Franco Baresi has called for Italian football to conduct a collective examination of conscience following the Azzurri’s third consecutive World Cup elimination, while defending Gennaro Gattuso from the bulk of the criticism being directed his way.

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The Milan legend and former Italy captain spoke to Adnkronos in the aftermath of Wednesday’s penalty shootout defeat to Bosnia, with quotes via TuttoMercatoWeb, acknowledging that key incidents on the night had worked against the Azzurri while insisting the deeper problems extend far beyond a single match or manager.

Baresi: ‘Italian football must do a ‘mea culpa’, Gattuso not to blame’

“Yesterday there were episodes that conditioned the match negatively for our team,” Baresi said, a reference to Alessandro Bastoni’s first-half red card, which left Italy with ten men for the majority of the contest.

“But Italy cannot keep arriving at the last stage just to play for qualification. The whole of Italian football must do a mea culpa, because the results of the last twenty years are there for everyone to see, with the isolated exception of the European Championship triumph.”

Despite that broad indictment of the system, Baresi was notably protective of Gattuso.

“In these months he gave everything, his soul, and in my opinion he also did a good job with the little time he had available,” he said. “Unfortunately it was not enough. It is not for me to say whether he should continue, but he is certainly among the least responsible for this defeat.”

It is a sentiment that contrasts sharply with some of the more sweeping criticism aimed at the coaching staff since Wednesday night, and one that reflects a broader view that Italy’s problems are structural rather than the product of any individual failure.