Gattuso: "I'm very proud of the game the team had"

Valencia CF coach Gennaro Gattuso assessed the great game that Valencia CF had in the semifinals of the Spanish Supercopa against Real Madrid, which was decided by a penalty shootout.

How do you rate the match?
I'm very proud of the team and of the game they had. We played with a great mentality. It is the way we have to be. Against Cádiz we lacked that. We have to continue like this, because we are a young team, which has quality and mentality. Today we demonstrated that on the pitch; we played 120 minutes against a great team, with great players and a great coach. We lost, but we have to continue like this.

Tiredness and fitness
I don't think the physical side took its toll on us. After 120 minutes it's normal to be the way we were. We worked a lot and ran a lot because we always had to be very careful with turnovers, and it is normal for the players to be tired after that.

Were Valencia CF better than Real Madrid?
I don't know if we were better than the opposition. We had a game that tactically we prepared differently from how we have played over the last four months. We played with two central midfielders and prepared well for that. We had chances to score and also Real Madrid did. It was an open game.

The performance by the goalkeepers
Courtois is a goalkeeper who has been playing at an incredible level for many years. He is in the Top 5 in the world. Also, Mamardashvili made 4 or 5 very good saves. We haven't had much luck today, but that's football. As a player I won a World Cup on penalties and you have to be lucky, and today we weren't.
 

The pivot position and the performance of Fran Pérez
I always talk about the same thing. After a game, after a semifinal of a competition that was important to us, I don't like to talk about transfers. I'm sure that we will have to do something because we have Nico missing in midfield. Almeida can play as a pivot and we have to bring back Guillamón, who for me is an important player. Today we saw that Almeida can play in that position. The club know that we have to sign a midfielder.

I have no doubts about Fran Pérez. In the last 4 or 5 months he has improved a lot, he has behaved incredibly and done well in training. He is a little crazy and daring, because he is young, and in the 105th minute instead of shooting he could have crossed the ball to Cavani. He is young and he has his strength, he has speed and technique and he deserves everything.