TOUGH CUNT of the week: Gennaro Gattuso

My favourite football player for as long as I can remember, I have to admit that when I watch a Gattuso match, it is usually not just to see some quality football. He is a very good player, but it was always his antics more than his sporting prowess that got me to watch his matches. He first came to my attention in about 2005, when I was watching an AC Milan match where he was sent off for back-handing one of the other team’s strikers during extra time. This left quite an impression on me, and I went out of my way to find out more about him. Ever since then, he has been my favourite player, and though there are plenty of others out there who may be more technically skilled, Gattuso has an unpredictability that I consider more entertaining than watching a more conventionally talented player. 

Possibly the most famous incident of Gattuso’s career occurred in February of this year, during a Champions League match with Tottenham. During the match Tottenham’s coach Joe Jordan (an esteemed hard lad back in his own playing days) had been seen shouting at Gattuso, presumably over Gattuso rough housing with his players. Gattuso answered this by going over to the sideline and grabbing Jordan by the throat, then pushing him away before anyone had to intervene. After the match finished Gattuso was again seen arguing with Jordan, and this time went up and head butted him, before being separated by players and officials from both sides. Gattuso was charged with gross unsporting conduct for this, and received a five match ban afterwards. 

Gattuso’s infamy in football is well earned, and there are countless examples of him getting in confrontations with other players, and indeed coaches. He has been quoted in interviews as saying “When I go out on to the pitch, I just become a different person”. If you watch any match he plays in you are bound to be entertained, as even if he doesn’t get in a fight, he is well known for letting out his anger by punching the ground and screaming, and during the 2006 World Cup he had FIFA officials raging when he took off his shorts and ran around the pitch to celebrate Italy’s win. 

An all round gas man, but Gattuso’s fiery temper is what first drew my attention, and will always be my favourite thing about him. He has a lifetime of being a TOUGH CUNT behind him, and no doubt many more years of it ahead of him.