Andrea Stramaccioni held a pressconference earlier today ahead of tomorrow night’s Europa League 3rd round group stage match against Partizan Belgrad at San Siro: “It’s a match we’d like to win because we’re at home and we want to take an important step in our Europa League campaign. We’ll approach the game with a hungry side who will take our opponents seriously. We’re expecting a team in rude health, who are top of their league with 8 wins and just one defeat, which came right at the start of the season. They’ve got talented young players. We respect Partizan, we know it’ll be a tough game. We’re working well at the moment, we saw that on Sunday. We’re relaxed and keeping our feet on the ground. We have it in our minds to work hard and improve game by game without taking any notice of the league table or our aims, which could distract us from our main goal which is hard graft. As I’ve said, tomorrow’s match is important because if we win we can take a big step towards qualifying, and that would allow us to make changes for our remaining group games. I can have all the ideas in the world but it’s the players who put them into practice on the pitch. I’m fortunate to have direct contact with them. Then what’s important is their desire and hunger to perform well and they’ve all shown a great deal of that. But, as I’ve said, the players deserve all the credit because they’re the ones who implement my ideas.”
The Nerazzurri coach was then asked about Wesley Sneijder’s return to action: “I like what I’ve seen from him, he’s highly motivated. He wants to get back as quickly as possible, he’s getting restless but, as you know, players will only return if they’re 100%, I don’t like to rush anyone back. He had his first tests with Dr. Combi yesterday and, when he’s available for selection, then we’ll talk about his return to action.”
The coach then continued to answer questions on individual players such as Fredy Guarin, Joel Obi, Matias Silvestre, Jonathan, Marko Livaja and Esteban Cambiasso: “Guarin was one of our busiest players on international duty, along with Gargano and Pereira. I could choose from a number of players, all of whom are good, and I’ve picked someone else, but there are no doubts over Guarin’s ability, neither now nor going forward. Obi? We need to be careful with him. He’s a terrific prospect but we need to make sure we manage his development correctly. He felt a slight twinge in training yesterday, which has nothing to do with his previous injury. Either way we don’t want to risk him tomorrow, then we’ll take our time regarding a decision on Sunday’s match. Silvestre and Jonathan? I’ve said it before and I’ve shown it in my team selection, there’s no one in this squad who I wouldn’t consider picking, no one who’s not seeing much first-team action. Both Silvestre and Jonathan have started big games. There are however players who are in better form than others, and that’s something I consider very important. Picking the same backline is also key. But Matias represents both the present and future. If you think about some of the difficulties Ranocchia had at the start, I think it’s normal Silvestre isn’t playing as much. Marko Livaja? He’s a striker, he grew up playing centre forward and he plays the role in a different way. He’s improved in Italy playing out wide on the left and now he’s equally comfortable as the main or support striker. I think it’s right he learns to do both, as well as to play 15-20 metres further back. Cambiasso’s a revelation? Esteban is playing very well but he’s not been a revelation this season. I believe it’s simply a case of him rediscovering full fitness. He deserves all the credit,” Stramaccioni concluded in response to questions about Cambiasso’s good form.
