APPIANO GENTILE – It was an early start to the day at the Centro Sportivo Angelo Moratti this morning as Inter prepare to face Palermo in tomorrow afternoon’s Serie A encounter. It began in the press room with Andrea Stramaccioni explaining to the gathered journalists – with a smile on his face – the reason for organising an earlier press conference than usual: “We need to save money so instead of lunch you just get free coffee and croissants.”
However, the topic quickly turned to tomorrow’s opponents: “With all due respect to Palermo and the high regard I hold Gasperini in, I expect Inter to provide a response tomorrow. I expect us to respond, we have to and we want to start sprinting again, getting points again. The way we approach the game will be important. We must get back to doing what we were doing until about 20 days ago and prove that the last three games were just a moment that happens. With all due respect to the opposition, it’s Inter that matters tomorrow.”
The Nerazzurri coach continued: “The week just gone was one of the best we’ve had, maybe the best of all, because there were no midweek games or international fixtures. That means a lot to a coach like myself because if I’m in this job it’s thanks to the work I’ve been able to do on the field. We even managed to fit in two training sessions in one day, we’ve trained really well. Does that include Sneijder? Yes, Wes has trained well like all the others and just like all the others he could be included in the squad for tomorrow. My main decision is the formation though: we have a few doubts, some of the players aren’t in tip-top condition and our approach going into tomorrow’s game will be crucial. We started the last two games well, but in this morning’s training session I’m more interested in looking at what formation to use than who to include in the squad. The subs bench will obviously depend on who is in the starting line-up and vice versa.”
Stramaccioni also spoke about Diego Milito’s fitness: “He sat out of training yesterday after discussing things with the doctor, we’ll see how he looks on the pitch today. He felt his muscle tighten as he played a pass.”
What’s gone is gone, it’s time to move on. Andrea Stramaccioni is convinced of that but he’s also happy to analyse the team’s previous performances in reply to specific questions from the journalists, starting with the Parma game: “I don’t think Inter really suffered defensively, nor did I get the impression that the opposition battened down the hatches. As I’ve said, it might well have turned out to be your typical 0-0, where a big team that’s not in great form has a bad game, and that would have been acceptable. Obviously we shouldn’t have made that mistake, it changed everything, and obviously if we want to win tomorrow we must attack. The secret is in trying to maintain the right balance.”
Asked what Inter’s recent below-par performances have in common, the coach replied: “I think our game probably lacked something when we weren’t in possession, maybe a little bit of determination and aggressiveness. When that happens sometimes the opponent gets to the ball before you. I’m talking about fouls as well, there are occasions when you have to resort to more strong-handed tactics. In the other games we’ve won, especially away from home, that didn’t happen. At Parma I saw us struggling for the first time, I didn’t see that against Cagliari or in Bergamo. We can’t deny that we’ve paid a small price after the most tiring weeks in terms of away trips for the Europa League. To be honest, I’ve noticed that in the players themselves. In weeks like that you find it harder to work consistently. Earlier in the season I was able to freshen up the side with greater success, but I must admit that in this case we paid for it.”
It was then put to the coach that Inter might have subconsciously eased up a little after so many wins. This was his reply: “The two games we played against top teams, Juventus and Fiorentina, gave us the belief – earlier in the season that we’d expected – that we’re in the mix, because beating the side that’s top of the league and doing it convincingly can only encourage you. Paradoxically, we then dropped points against smaller teams and tomorrow’s match is now a testing ground for us: we’ll find out if we really have gone backwards in terms of the quality of our football or we’ll see – as I’m sure we will – Inter respond on the pitch and get back to winning ways. We’ll see if it was merely a blip. I’ll ask my players to get back to doing the things that got us here, which is attacking while maintaining our balance.”
Source:Inter.it
