Emotional Gattuso: ‘This defeat bakes me a lot. I would give everything to cheer fans … ‘
The thunderous whistles and desperate faces of Mark Livaj and Gennar Gattus, who fled to the locker room by fast walking, simply said everything. The pale, expluent and restless Hajduk once again, for the third time in a row, disappointed and infuriated his fans who filled Poljud in the middle of a working week.
It was a phenomenal opportunity to completely get Dinamo out of the championship title and escape to Plus seven and even take the top of the ladder again, thus pressing the river, but once again it was key, Gattus’s team failed. It is no longer a coincidence, obviously these Hajduk players cannot cope with the pressure and realization that I can win the title of champion. After a new disappointment, there are fewer and fewer those who believe in it.
Hajduk and Istria met in the 31th round of the SuperSport HNL |
Gonzalo Garcia once again beat Gattus. Hajduk attacked spontaneously, the team acted executed and exploited, without the right plan in the game. Ubacs were shining into the Istria penalty area, but the solid defense of the guests solved it with ease. Lovro Majkic had no serious job because his stoppers blocked most of his attempts. The Puležans missed some of their chances, and Vinko Rozic knocked out the citizens of Split in the 36th minute.
Hajduk won the slim two points in the last three games, and Gattuso said after the game:
– The match is easy to explain, we played a big game when we watch the aspect of the game without a ball. We prevented Istria in what is known for, but we lacked quality and courage in playing with the ball. We missed everything. You saw the matches of Istria against Rijeka and Dinamo, they played much worse without a ball than we do. The approach was level, but the game was bad, the result did not escort us.
Hajduk and Istria met in the 31th round of the SuperSport HNL |
Some players were invisible?
– It’s not okay to talk about names, without the ball it was good, with the ball it was bad at the whole team level. We struggled and sinned, it is a lack of quality. Apologies to the fans who came to the match on their workday. There was no quality in the game, I won’t be named, I won’t blame anyone. The team is to blame.
Can this Hajduk win the title?
– I don’t know if we will be champions, but we won’t if we don’t win points. We need to collect points if we want to win the title. We need to heal the wounds, we expected a tough game and we got a tough game. We expected one result, but we got another. It is up to me to pick up the team, there are 15 more points ahead of us by the end of the championship.
What did you say to the players at halftime?
– We look at clips that prepare video waves. We didn’t have much to analyze. We played well without the ball, I only said to make sure to watch and not get another yellow card. We lacked the qualities in the ball game, it was obvious, and I can’t show it on the recording. At halftime we had nothing to show, it took better to play the ball.
Players can say it’s the hardest thing for them, but it’s probably to you. You will have a hard time falling asleep after this, will you watch the recording?
– I will not watch the game again, I understand what we could be better at. We prepared well, we had a character, but we were nervous and made mistakes. I won’t lie, this defeat bakes me a lot, this is a big blow for me and the team. It is up to us to recover. I would give everything in my life to cheer this city and fans. Best to gather in silence and play the championship until the end. There are 15 more points in the game.
