Azzurri’s head coach feels that officials should use common sense when a player is dealing with a potential decision
Gennaro Gattuso complained that Italian referees were too “touchy” and should accept the suffering of Scottish officials after Napoli captain Lorenzo Insigne was sent off for swearing in the 1-0 loss to Inter.
The Napoli boss accepted that Davide Massa fired Insigne for his complaints about the imposition of a penalty that turned Romelu Lukaku in Wednesday’s Serie A case.
David Ospina took down Matteo Darmian, and Insigne was quick to express his disdain at the decision, with Massa spending time not branding the red card.
“Only in Italy do I see referees show the red for these things,” Gattuso told Sky Sport Italia.
“You will not be sent away in England. I’m not making up: I’ve played in Scotland in the past and I still follow football today. A team captain there cannot be sent for a ‘f * ck off’ to the referee for a suspicious penalty.
“This means the referee is happy, and if you are then you can’t do this job. You can’t leave a team down to 10 men for that. He didn’t even say about his face in an aggressive way. “
Rangers midfielder said: “Anyone who has played football knows that there is a lot involved in a game like Inter-Napoli, and word can go out. Only in Italy it [red cards in these situations] happen and it is not right, because games are changed in this way.
“Players need to settle down, but you also need to realize that ‘f * ck off’ after a penalty can happen. In my opinion, a referee needs to have the information and ingenuity to understand that.
“If there is a red card for every word too many, they should always be sent away. I’m just saying, in such an important game, an experienced European referee can’t be very easy. ”
Napoli had better chances in the evening – even after being reduced to 10 men – and ‘Rino’ was left feeling unchanged as his side were carving out opportunity after opportunity without finding the back of the web.
“It was an innovative game, I think the team performed well and we tried something new tonight,” said Gattuso.
“If we are judging the whole game, it is clear that Napoli deserved the extra points, but you have to score a goal. It felt like we were there all night trying to put the ball in the net with our hands and it still wouldn’t cross the line.
“Inter came on to get us, although we were able to play our game anyway. Unfortunately, the ball did not go into the net. ”