After the latest poor performance, a 3-0 loss to Hellas Verona, Milan directors Fassone and Mirabelli decided to put the players in retreat this week leading up to the Atalanta match. Gennaro Gattuso spoke about the retreat and the status of his squad at his pre-match press conference, "The retreat? We definitely spent more time together and it was nice to see the players' children and wives. We had a dinner between us and we worked very hard, training on the pitch for a longer period. The problem with this squad is not the midweek training but that it lacks venom. The aspect of people giving more, that a teammate gives straight to the younger players, helps them settle into the match: this is missing. We see it when we watch and analyze the matches. In any case the retreat is the least we could have done after what has happened: we wear an important shirt. There were no players who rebelled."
Moving on to the match against Atalanta, he continued "Atalanta is a squad that flies, they don't give up a centimeter. They get better minute after minute and they are doing well in the Europa League: they have speed and determination in their play: there is a difference with us. Can you teach venom? No, but the mentality you can teach. Tomorrow we must not play straight ahead, to lose trivial balls. I expect the same mentality as the first 20 minutes against Bologna and Verona, and not to commit the same errors."
Finally, he spoke about the rumors that he wanted to resign, "I have never thought about resigning. I only went to meet with the directors to talk about the retreat and whether we would begin it on Tuesday or Wednesday. I knew there would be some difficulties in taking this job, there is work and great responsibility. Berlusconi? He called me on the day I accepted the job, we stayed on the phone for an hour. It is the secret of Pulcinella what he says and how he likes to play, but in this situation I have to evaluate the characteristics of the players I train. The society? They are always present. When I speak to Han Li, Fassone or Mirabelli they always say 'what can we do?' "
