'It was like watching AC Milan under Arrigo Sacchi at one point' - David Artell on 'outstanding' Grimsby's win at Gillingham

-Credit: (Image: Jon Corken)
-Credit: (Image: Jon Corken)


David Artell compared Grimsby Town’s performance in their 1-0 win away at league-leaders Gillingham to Arrigo Sacchi’s AC Milan team of the late 80s.

Kieran Green returned from suspension to score the only goal of the game on Tuesday night as the Mariners won their second away fixture in the space of four days. Gillingham, who had not lost a league game at home in 2024, dominated possession in the game but could not break through the Grimsby resistance.

Sacchi’s famous Milan team, which won back-to-back European Cups in 1989 and 1990, were famed in part for their defensive structure, and Artell’s Town team showed their own League Two version to keep out the most in-form team in the division.

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Artell said: “Our shape was outstanding, our work rate was outstanding, it was like watching AC Milan under Arrigo Sacchi at one point.

“You come to a team who haven’t lost [at home] this calendar year, it’s going to be tough. It’s an outstanding win to back up the outstanding win at the weekend. It’s a good night for us.

“We knew they were going to have some of the ball, and they’ve got a lot of forward runners from different areas of the pitch and we knew they’ve got rotation on each side with their wingers playing inverted wanting to come inside the pitch.

“We had to stop all that while also realising that we could expose one or two areas and that is how the game played out. If our shape was good enough back to front and side to side, then it was always going be tough for them to break us down.”

Kieran Green during the Sky Bet League Two match between Gillingham FC and Grimsby Town FC at the MEMS Priestfield Stadium, Gillingham -Credit:Jon Corken
Kieran Green during the Sky Bet League Two match between Gillingham FC and Grimsby Town FC at the MEMS Priestfield Stadium, Gillingham -Credit:Jon Corken

It had been an up-and-down start to the campaign for Town, influenced heavily by injuries ravaging the squad, but the last week and a half have demonstrated the progress both individuals and the team as a whole have made under Artell.

Goalscorer Green is one of the best examples of that development, originally identified as a ball-winning midfielder when he first arrived at the club, but to start this season he has shown his strengths lie in ball-carrying and getting into advanced positions.

Artell explained: “We’ve worked a lot on Greeny’s finishing of late and he looked confident as he approached the ball. I didn’t think he was going to miss and thankfully he didn’t.

“Greeny’s a great bloke. I’m pretty certain if you told him he had to do keep-ups every day until he went to bed he would do, he just loves football.”

Green will take plenty of plaudits for his winner on Tuesday night, but Artell was keen to highlight the efforts of his entire squad as Town made it three League Two wins on the bounce for the first time in over five years.

“I don’t just want to speak about Greeny because all 19 players including Matty Carson who missed out [on the squad] were outstanding.

“We’ve got a really good group. I keep telling them that and I hope they’re starting to believe it. If they keep that belief up and keep building, then we’ll have a decent season. We’re not going to get carried away.

“We can come up with game plans until we’re blue in the face, ultimately, the players have to understand it and carry it out. To a man, every one of them did that and it turned out to be a great night.”