Tonali: ‘Gattuso advice from a father figure’ for grateful Italy, will be 11 Gattusos

Newcastle United midfielder Sandro Tonali is overjoyed at having his idol Gennaro Gattuso as the new Italy coach, relishing the ‘advice from a father figure. He will ensure we are 11 Gattusos on the pitch.’

Their World Cup qualifier with Israel kicks off at the Nagyerdei Stadion in Debrecen on Monday at 19.45 UK time (18.45 GMT).

This fixture is technically an Israeli home match, but is played on neutral turf in Hungary due to the lack of safety guarantees.

Gattuso launched his era with a 5-0 victory over Estonia on Friday, using a 4-2-3-1 formation, but there might be changes.

Tonali always had Gattuso as his idol

“Every game is different, we want to win tomorrow and must focus only for the three points,” Tonali told Sky Sport Italia.

Former Milan midfielder and Rossoneri fan Tonali had always said that while he was compared to Andrea Pirlo early in his career, his inspiration was Gattuso, so getting him as Italy coach is very special.

“I talked a lot to Gattuso, it is something I frankly had always wanted to do, but I’m happy that I get to do it in the Nazionale. I’ll treasure what he said to me, like advice from a father figure. He will ensure we are 11 Gattusos out there on the pitch.”

Norway remain top of Group I with 12 points after four games, with Israel on nine, while Italy follow on six points from three matches.