Gennaro Gattuso has likened Milan new boy Krzysztof Piatek to Jon Dahl Tomasson and says Mattia Caldara and Lucas Biglia should be back ‘in a week’.
Tomasson failed to hold down a first-team place at Milan but scored 35 goals in three seasons, winning a Champions League and earning praise for his battling qualities, while Caldara and Biglia have been out for several months.
“We have to pick up from where we left off in the first 50 minutes, showing the same character,” Gattuso told Milan TV ahead of his side’s Coppa Italia quarter-final against Napoli on Tuesday.
“We stopped dribbling in the last 30 minutes and were stretched, so all of Napoli’s qualities came out.
“We must have the desire to play and show our faces, dribbling well. We need experience. We’re a young team and we need games like these.
“For us to get back to being competitive, we need consistency in our performances, game and mentality.
“We’ve shown it at times, but we still have too many ups and downs. Piatek reminds me of Tomasson. He had some very specific characteristics.
“Jon never spared himself in training and gave us a huge hand, also when he played from the start.
“Piatek has just joined, but I like him already. He’s a curious lad who looks at photos at Milanello: he likes to observe, talk and experience the structure here first hand.
“It’s something beautiful. Will he start tomorrow? Him or Cutrone will play. Caldara and Biglia yesterday did some light work with us yesterday.
“They’re working to improve their physical level and I think they’ll be available in a week.
“We’re very happy with them, they have great desire to return and have shown it through the commitment they’ve been putting in.”