Football
Ben Gladwell, Italy correspondent 8y

AC Milan players don't deserve to wear the shirt - Gennaro Gattuso

Former AC Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso says he does not believe the current crop of Rossoneri players are worthy of wearing the shirt.

The most successful club in European football, in terms of trophies won, are set to miss out on a place in Europe next season for the third year in a row and Gattuso says such a failure would never have happened when he was playing.

Milan still have a chance of rescuing their season by beating Juventus in the Coppa Italia final, but even that is unlikely in the eyes of the 38-year-old, who is now coach of Pisa.

"The Milan team I played in was a perfect machine," he told Mediaset. "We had champions, the budget was different, but there was above all a great sense of belongingness. When you took to the field and lost a game, it felt like being at a funeral in the dressing room afterwards.

"When you took to the field, you know that you were wearing a shirt which had made history in Italian and world football. Today, in many games, you cannot see this belongingness.

"I think the most important thing they can do now is win the Coppa Italia because winning helps you to win more, even though it's going to be very difficult because Juventus are far better. In the past five years, they have built an incredible mentality, whereas Milan need to improve a lot if they want to be the Milan from years gone by."

In those years, the likes of Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten, Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic wore the famous red and black stripes and won trophy after trophy.

"It was a dream which lasted 14 years," Gattuso said, reflecting on his own time at the club. "It was the club I had supported as a child and they allowed me to win many big trophies and to play with some great champions, who I would never have imagined playing with."

Milan are currently seventh in Serie A with two games of the season remaining. If they finish outside the top six and lose the cup final on May 21, they will fail to qualify for Europe once again next season.

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