Valencia coach Gennaro Gattuso has been sent home after less than a season at the Mestalla. The club is languishing a point above the relegation zone and will now search for a new manager.
Coaching a team is not a straightforward affair. It is not everyone that can succeed as a manager. There is a general belief that a great player would make a fantastic coach, but the industry is full of players who were massive in their playing days but could not make the grade as a manager.
While the sport has fantastic players during their playing days and still made a success of coaching a team, some failed as managers. Examples are Zinedine Zidane and Pep Guardiola, who excelled both as players and managers. Top players like Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard have found the life of a manager a strenuous affair.
Valencia is a club that is struggling financially and on the pitch. Things have gotten dangerously awful, and they think the time for action is upon them. Hanging just above the relegation zone, Los Che has decided to part ways with Italian manager Gennaro Gattuso.
Gattuso gets the boot at Valencia
It has been a difficult season for Valencia. In the last couple of years, the club has been looking to regain lost glory but has remained in the shadows of challengers like Atletico Madrid, Sevilla and Real Sociedad. The appointment of former Napoli manager Gennaro Gattuso has not yielded the desired results.
Despite the experience of the legendary midfielder, the club has continued on a spiral trend. Gattuso has struggled to arrest the descent of Valencia, as he has not been able to find answers to the problems bedevilling the club. Valencia have struggled to record wins this season and sits dangerously above the relegation zone.
Valencia have announced the termination of the appointment of Gennaro Gattuso. The AC Milan and Italy legend leaves the position after just seven months. Gattuso was appointed in the summer of 2022 and has not won a game since early November. He lost a chance to win silverware after his side lost via penalties to Real Madrid in the Super Cup.
What led to the sacking of Gattuso
With La Liga past the halfway mark, Valencia sit in 14th place on the log and have managed just two wins from their last seven games. Both victories came in the Copa del Rey. Valencia last won a game in La Liga on November 10 when they beat Real Betis 3-0. They are currently one point above the relegation zone.
The sacking of Gattuso leaves budding American star Yunus Musah without a coach. Musah has been one of the few standout players for Los Che this term.
Gattuso has been under pressure for a while and was recently spotted arguing with the press following a La Liga defeat to Real Valladolid. The Italian manager has endured a topsy-turvy managerial career that has seen him lose his job at AC Milan, Napoli and Valencia. He also left Fiorentina three weeks after agreeing on a deal.
Gattuso now joins the ranks of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, who were successful players but terrible managers.
