As a player, Valencia coach Gennaro Gattuso, a World Cup winner with Italy in 2006, was tenacious and fiery. He was once sent off for slapping Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the face with the back of his hand. Then there was the time he squared up to Tottenham Hotspur coach Joe Jordan, pushing him in the throat and later admitting he “lost control” after being provoked.
Gattuso was also a talented player. He added bite to an exquisite AC Milan midfield that boasted Andrea Pirlo, Clarence Seedorf and Kaka, three of the best of their generation. As a coach, Gattuso has had spells with Milan and Napoli and is now in charge of developing an exciting crop of players at Valencia, including the young United States midfielder Yunus Musah, who insists Gattuso is calmer than he was as a player.
“He’s not like on the field when you saw him,” Musah tells ESPN. “When he played [the idea was] he was always angry and stuff, you know. With us, he gets angry as well, but you see that he’s just trying to help you, encourage you, so you take it in a good way. He is great to work with. He’s a good person, a friend.”
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If Gattuso has been good for Valencia since taking over in the summer — they have 15 points from 10 games — he has been especially good for Musah.
Born in New York to Ghanaian parents, Musah was raised in Castelfranco Veneto near Venice, Italy, before moving to London, where he spend seven years at Arsenal‘s academy. He joined Valencia in 2019 at age 16, and after a season with the B-team is now in his third season in the first team.
It is only this season, however, that he has become a regular. He was in and out of the starting lineup in his first two seasons, often playing out of position on the wing. Under Gattuso, who knows a thing or two about playing as a central midfielder, Musah is back in the middle — and it helps that the two have a language in common.
“When he was first appointed, he actually called me a few times to tell me how he works,” says Musah, who speaks Italian, English and Spanish. “We spoke in Italian. Obviously, that connection helps sometimes because we communicate easier and things like that.
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“When he came in, I did think this is an ex-midfielder coming in to help us, so it has been a natural transition [back to central midfield] because I spent my whole youth playing in the middle. Obviously, whenever I go to the [U.S.] national team I play in the middle as well, so it’s been a good transition and it helps the style of play in the team as well.”
Since making his USMNT debut in November 2020 and then officially switching in March 2021 after representing England at the youth level, Musah has become an increasingly important part of Gregg Berhalter’s side. He helped the U.S. win the inaugural CONCACAF Nations League title over Mexico in June 2021, and then played a key role during the World Cup qualifying campaign.
Under Berhalter’s watch, there has been an emergence of a so-called golden generation. Along with Musah, the U.S. count on several Europe-based youngsters such as Chelsea‘s Christian Pulisic, Juventus‘ Weston McKennie, Lille‘s Timothy Weah, AC Milan’s Sergino Dest, Borussia Dortmund‘s Giovanni Reyna, and Leeds United duo Tyler Adams and Brenden Aaronson.
“It basically is a brotherhood. When I had my first camp [in November 2020], things just clicked,” Musah said. “It’s just a thing that — I don’t know — something about the group that is right. Whenever we are on the pitch, we click. When we are off the pitch, we’re great friends, and as Weston said, we’re a brotherhood.”
Musah adds that the team can live up to lofty expectations set upon a side that’s returning to the World Cup after missing the 2018 edition in Russia.
“I feel like being [called the golden generation] is a compliment because [the USMNT has] a lot of players in the top teams in [Major League Soccer]. … There are a lot of players in Europe right now, and young players that are playing week in, week out at the top level, playing Champions League, playing in the top five leagues.”
