Gattuso: ‘Italy cannot concede ridiculous goals, craziest game I’ve seen’

Gennaro Gattuso admits the 5-4 victory over Israel was ‘the craziest game I’ve been involved with as a coach,’ but Italy ‘concede ridiculous goals too easily.’

Expectations were very high after the 5-0 victory over Estonia on his debut, but the coach had warned this would be a much tougher test.

Even then, Israel were surprisingly effective, leading both 1-0 to a Manuel Locatelli own goal and 2-1 with Dor Peretz.

Moise Kean struck twice to get the Azzurri back on level terms, before Matteo Politano fired in the Mateo Retegui back-heel flick assist.

Even when going 4-2 up it wasn’t over, as Israel clawed it back to 4-4, until a wayward Sandro Tonali cross-shot went through a sea of legs for 5-4.

BERGAMO, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 05: Coach Gennaro Gattuso of Italy looks on prior to the National anthems prior to the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifier match between Italy and Estonia at Stadio di Bergamo on September 05, 2025 in Bergamo, Italy . (Photo by Mattia Ozbot/Getty Images)

“It was murder today,” confessed an exhausted Gattuso on RAI Sport and Sky Sport Italia.

“It’s the craziest game I’ve been involved with as a coach, but it is my problem and not that of the players. If we want to play in a certain way, we need to get better at this. We were crazy to systematically go on the attack, that’s what Israel were waiting for, they hit us on the counter every time. We could’ve defended deeper when leading.”

Italy scored 10 goals in their two games so far under Gattuso, but also conceded four.

“They surprised us a bit coming man for man at the start, but every time we attacked, we caused them problems. We weren’t very sharp, that’s inevitable after the second game in a few days, and we need to work on that.

“We’re a crazy team, because we are too fragile, we concede ridiculous goals too easily. The lads know that, but this is my problem, not theirs. We come from a football where it’s about references, but we need to work on being our own team first.”

A lack of reaction to going behind was what Luciano Spalletti was most criticised for during his tenure, but at least Gattuso’s team responded every time.

“The lads deserve credit for always reacting to every slap in the face, but it’s undeniable we cannot concede goals as easily as we did today. It’s not criticism for our players, me and my staff have to improve and work on that as soon as possible. This is a team that cannot lack solidity.”

Nicolo Barella plays for Italy against Israel in a World Cup qualifier (@azzurri)

Gattuso saw Italy struggle with the Israeli high press, especially as they risked giving away more goals.

“When we got to the goalkeeper, we’d struggle because the centre-backs were following their men, so the full-backs had to cover the long balls. It was a crazy game, but we showed heart.”

Tonali said that Gattuso was his hero growing up, so can the Newcastle United man fill the Rino role in this team?

“Sandro is technically far better than I was, I had a lot less quality. Perhaps I am a tad better tactically, but he is still learning. Locatelli, Barella, all those who are in the squad are helping and learning. They know what needs to be done, I can only thank them for their efforts.”

BERGAMO, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 05: Coach Gennaro Gattuso of Italy looks on prior to the National anthems prior to the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifier match between Italy and Estonia at Stadio di Bergamo on September 05, 2025 in Bergamo, Italy . (Photo by Mattia Ozbot/Getty Images)

Italy do at least bring home six points from two games and move into second place behind Norway in the 2026 World Cup qualifying group.

“The mentality is the best part, as even though we weren’t having a great night, we showed heart and the desire to react. A little more experience, a few adjustments, we could’ve held on to that 4-2 lead better,” concluded Gattuso.

“These have been eight incredible days, I thank the lads for their efforts, but if we want to do something important, we’ve got to improve. We already knew that.”