Former Italy international Gennaro Gattuso admits he always thinks about football and doesn’t understand why his wife is still with him: ‘I must change.’
The Italian coach was appointed by La Liga side Valencia last summer.
He coached Milan and Napoli in Serie A before his first appointment in Spain.
When did he start thinking about a potential career as a coach?
“When I was 27 or 28. I was playing for Milan against a Spanish club,” he told Diario AS.
“We were only running and the ball was played vertically. I thought: ‘Why?’ After that, I spoke to Guardiola, but I understood nothing of what he said.
“I like practical football, with players who think and know what to do. I like to keep the ball with quality, not just to keep it, but to look ahead. I see football in a different way than when I was playing.
“It’s the first season my team presses high up the pitch. It wasn’t like that at Milan or Napoli,” the former midfielder continued.
“To win the Champions League or the World Cup is not enough to become a coach. I started from scratch, I knew football, but I was not prepared. I watched many games in every division.”
Would he sign a player like him at Valencia?
“I don’t know. Depending on games, sometimes I’d sign me, sometimes not. I used to run a lot, I was good tactically, but in modern football, I may be lacking something.”
Which lifestyle was better? As a footballer or as a coach?
“Clearly, as a footballer. Given the way I live football, I have no life. I don’t know how my wife is still with me. I live for football. When I started, I called Ancelotti and asked:’How do you do it?’ To me it is difficult. I start at 8.30 am and I return home at 7 pm.
“Even then, if I go to the toilet and think about something, I write it on the toilet paper. I have to change because I can’t spend 18 or 19 hours per day thinking about football.”
Is there anyone who has a similar style?
“There was a time when I didn’t see many players similar to me, I saw one at the World Cup, Amrabat. It was thrilling. It was like watching me when I was 27,” he said.
Gattuso won the Champions League twice with Ancelotti in charge and believes his ex-boss is the best coach in the world.
“He Carlo comes from a different generation, but still holds the key to entering his players’ heads,” he said. “It seems simple, but it’s not. When talking to a 20-year-old lad, I should not consider my career.
“I need to focus on how I can enter his head. When I started, I thought everyone had to do the same as I did, with the same mentality and desire.
“My daughter is tough, we have similar personalities. My son is different, I can’t talk to them the same way. Carlo is the best coach in the world, it’s incredible how he entered the head of players across four generations.”
Gattuso also won the World Cup with Italy in 2006 and is one of the most successful and iconic players in the history of La Nazionale.
The former midfielder, now 44, retired in 2013 after a one-year spell at Sion in Switzerland.
The Swiss side were also his first club as a coach. Gattuso was then appointed by Palermo, OFI Creta, Pisa, Milan and Napoli.