Stramaccioni: “We have to beat Genoa”

Photo: Thomas Salme

“I’m taking tomorrow’s match very seriously because it’s very important to us: we want to win it to finish the year second.” This was how Andrea Stramaccioni began his pre-conference earlier, ahead of Inter v Genoa tomorrow, the Nerazzurri’s last match of 2012.

“Genoa aren’t on the best run but in a one-off game they can cause problems for anyone. Just look what happened against Napoli, who they countered with a system similar to what I expect tomorrow. Genoa have the ability going forward to create problems for any team. It will be a tricky contest. Tomorrow though we want to – and must – win.”

The Nerazzurri coach was then asked to sum up this year: “I think we have to be pleased with what we’ve achieved since the start of the project, but I’d like to be able to say that tomorrow, in second place ready for the second half of the season. We’re thinking about the here and now, we’ll try and win the match so we can plan for 2013 beginning in second place. I want to see fight and desire tomorrow, no talk, let’s just get on and win the game. It’s hugely important, from a psychological perspective too. Either way, we’ve already laid the foundations to be back competing and to get back in the Champions League.”

Stramaccioni had the following to say about Genoa: “You should always respect your opponents, but never fear them. We come into this game with a number of absentees, but we’re Inter and we’ll start the match tomorrow with eleven players who want to win.”  The coach also hoped to be able to call upon Fredy Guarin tomorrow: “We’ve delayed naming our squad because of him, clearly Guarin is our player in the best form, and so we want him to play tomorrow. He’s been one of our best players, in an area of the pitch where we’re missing six players through injury. If he’s been banned they must have found some reasons, but he’s assured me that he didn’t say anything disrespectful, nor did he approach the assistant: he was punished for intent. We’re gutted we might not be able to pick our most in-form player.”

Last season’s Inter v Genoa was Andrea Stramaccioni’s first match in charge of the Inter first team. A smile appeared on the coach’s face as he thought back to that game, now that he’s going into the same fixture for the second time: “It feels like something that happened four or five years ago… It was an incredible game from an emotional point of view for me but now we must focus on the present and on winning tomorrow.”

One of the many questions put to the Nerazzurri coach during his long press conference was how he deals with criticism: “There’s an ounce of truth in every criticism, I’m the youngest coach in Serie A and I’m trying to learn and improve. The opinions of the people who follow Inter every day are what I’m most interested in. Then of course I have my own mind and I make my own decisions. I don’t think I’m anything amazing, I’m trying to learn from each game and better myself. There have been times when we’ve got a good result and I wasn’t happy with our performance and vice versa; what I don’t like is when people judge you only on the result and don’t look at the performance. We came home from Rome with zero points but with a greater awareness of what we can do.”

Stramaccioni was also quizzed on Esteban Cambiasso’s fitness: “He started training with the rest of the team again yesterday and today he took part in our pre-match training session. I’ll leave it till late before deciding whether to put him in the starting line-up or not.”

On comparisons with Juventus: “They deserve to be top for the consistency they have shown. Our biggest regret is that we’ve dropped a few too many points along the way. But I’ve always tried to avoid comparing ourselves with the league leaders, I’d rather concentrate on getting our own run going now. We’re trying to be consistent in our performances. We must try to beat Genoa so that we can go into 2013 in second place and then aim to have an excellent second half to the season. Let’s just talk about Inter.”

The coach was also asked about something he said after the Lazio match (“We’re not good enough to overcome the unfortunate episodes”) and what it would take to change that: “I don’t know it would take for us to be better than the episodes. What I mean is that in a match against a direct rival, when a number of episodes go against you – through bad luck, because the ref missed it and that can happen – Inter weren’t good enough to overcome all of that.”

“A tiny bit more luck with injuries.” That was Andrea Stramaccioni’s reply when asked what he wanted for Christmas. “Just a bit of luck with injuries because we’ve had so many of them – but during games, never in training, all from clashes during games. So let’s say that what I’d like would be for my players to be fit.”

And what present would he like to improve Italian football? “I actually think it’s still a fascinating league, even though there’s a bit less money – but that’s a reflection of a general trend.”

Does Stramaccioni think that certain clubs hold more political power? “No, I don’t think so, I certainly hope there are no clubs that wield more power than others.”

The coach was then asked about his biggest disappointment so far in his career. “Parma, where Inter played badly objectively speaking.”

What about Inter’s Europa League draw and the fact that the Nerazzurri avoided the tougher teams in the pots? “Yes, we did avoid some of the more competitive sides. We’ve been handed an average to good draw, but it doesn’t change an awful lot. Cluj did well in a Champions League group with Manchester United and Galatasaray.”

The Nerazzurri coach will spend a few days back in his native Rome over the Christmas holidays and return to Appiano to start work with the team again on 2 January: “I was the one who decided training should resume on that date, taking into consideration that each player has been given a specific fitness programme to follow during the break, and some of them will be followed by fitness coaches. When they come back we’ll all be in retreat together until the match in Udine and we’ll have two training sessions a day. We’ve got lots of South Americans and factoring in the long-haul flights, the stress of the journey etc., I think this is the best way to do it.”

Source: Inter.it