HELP ME OUT
EUROPA LEAGUE Arsene ‘asks’ for advice
AC MILAN (4-3-3): Donnarumma; Calabria, Romagnoli, Bonucci, Rodriguez; Bonaventura, Biglia, Kessie; Suso, Cutrone, Calhanoglu. ARSENAL (3-4-2-1): Ospina; Chambers, Mustafi, Koscielny; Maitland-Niles, Xhaka, Ramsey, Kolasinac; Mkhitaryan, Ozil; Welbeck.
ARSENE WENGER joked he should be asking AC Milan’s rookie boss Gennaro Gattuso for advice to get out of his slump.
Wenger takes his Arsenal side to the San Siro on the back of four straight defeats while Gattuso’s Milan side are unbeaten in 13 and have just kept six clean sheets in a row.
So the Frenchman, who has 29 years more coaching experience than his counterpart, had a cheeky answer when asked if he could give Gattuso any pointers yesterday.
He said: “I don’t give him much advice. He was a great player here and he’s doing very well at the moment. I’m not doing well so maybe I can get advice from him.”
Gattuso had never managed in Serie A before when he took over at Milan in December following Vincenzo Montella’s sacking.
But after a shaky start his side are flying and few are predicting an Arsenal win in this Europa League last-16 first leg clash.
In his playing days with Rangers, Milan and Italy, Gattuso would have relished a game like this. But he insisted ® from PAUL BROWN in Milan it’s no contest in any comparison between Wenger and him.
He said: “When I go to bed I dream of Mesut Ozil and Wenger, not about my playing days. That’s in the past, this is something different. You can’t compare it.
“Compared to Wenger I’m in the children’s team, I’m just starting and he’s been coaching for 30 years. In that regard it’s not a contest.
“He’s won so much in his career. My path is still very long. It will be an interesting match, with more of a new philosophy like mine against him and his experience.”