Revealed: Why Gattuso chose to bench Piatek in Torino-AC Milan
This decision was made by the coach in the last hours and it perhaps flashed in his head after two disappointing results: the 1-1 draw against Parma and the Coppa Italia elimination at the hands of Lazio.
In all likelihood, it will be Patrick Cutrone playing in the middle of the attack from the first minute this evening and there are several reasons why Gattuso has chosen to bench the Polish striker.
First of all, Piatek needs some rest. From January 29, the day of Milan-Napoli in the Coppa Italia, Piatek has played as a starter in every official match for the Rossoneri, without forgetting the two tests with the national team in March. In short, the drop of form could be psychological and could be justified by the overload of commitments to which he was subjected.
Piatek has not scored since April 6th, since the match against Juventus. There is no talk of a huge time but perhaps it is enough in Gattuso's technical evaluations to give him a rest, to make him recharge his batteries and motivations and hope that in the running, if he needed to, he could still be useful to the cause.
But the main reason for Piatek's exclusion this evening is probably a tactical one. Yesterday Gattuso admitted that his striker plays less with the team, touches few balls per game and prefers to wait for the right opportunities in the opposing area.
This is not enough at this time, Milan needs the support of everyone all over the pitch, even of a striker who takes part in the manoeuvre. And evidently, Cutrone is more inclined to do so than Piatek, a striker very capable in the penalty box but with limited ball playing characteristics.