frank de boer

Important game for Inter tomorrow against Cagliari. Three points is a must in order to stay with the top teams and to bounce back from the defeat against Roma. This is what coach Frank De Boer had to say about the status of the squad and what we can expect from the team tomorrow.

This season, Inter has managed to win only against Juventus at San Siro. Against the teams considered “easy” to play, Inter has suffered the most. How do you explain that? “We have to improve. We always want to win no matter what team we are playing. Against team like Juventus the games tend to be more open, against “smaller” teams the spaces shrink. When you don’t have a lot of space, it’s difficult for us, the most important thing is to be patient.”

What’s the status of the South American players? “We will evaluate their status during todays practice, but they are all well.”

The approach towards the games hasn’t always been positive, what is the problem? “The entire staff has been involved in analysing this. We have to understand that we have to start the games at our best, we cannot allow it to take 20 minutes before we are were we want to be. When we manage to avoid these “breaks” we can take steps forward.”

Can we expect some change to the team since you have an important game against Southampton? “We have to win against Southampton, we know that this is an important game. The players are prepared to play many games in few days.”

Where does the team have to improve in order to reach third place? “We cannot lose the ball in the naive way we have been doing so far. Especially in dangerous zones on the pitch. These kind of errors we have stay away from.”

Is there a possibility for a lot of offensive players at the same time? “This is not the most important aspect, there are other aspects that make the difference. There are a lot of ideas and this is one of them, but I’m happy in what we are doing in the attack right now. But like I said before, we have to change in the second phase.”

Will Icardi and Perisic play in the next period? “If the players are at top, I don’t see why not. When I played I didn’t have a problem playing a lot of games in a short period of time, it depends on the condition that you’re in. If they’re ok they will play.”

After a few weeks now, are you convinced that your way of playing, your philosophy is a winning kind of play? “Roma and Napoli have their own way of playing and they don’t change that. Even against Juventus we didn’t change our way of playing, why would we do that against other teams?”

The period that follows now, is that a decisive period for Inter? “It could be, we have to win tomorrow in order to stay close to the top teams. I have a lot of confidence in my players , we want to win the major part of the games.”

How is Gabigol? “He is fine and will be called up for tomorrows game.”

Usually in Italy, what counts is the defensive play and not to suffer too many goals, Comments? “Yes, of course. But what counts is being compact, sometimes that is not easy to do. It depends on the distance between each section of the team. I’ve talked a lot with my players, also after the game against Roma. Against Roma we conceded a goal as a result of a situation initially not dangerous. We have to win the duels and be compact.”

In what role do you see Gabigol at his best? “When you arrive from another country it’s important to adapt, but he is working excellent at the moment. Tactically he still needs to improve, but that’s normal. He is used to another way of playing from his time in Brazil.”

Considering next weeks Europa League, can we expect to see Medel as a central defender tomorrow? “He played really well with his national team and proved his skills as a central defender. For me it’s absolutely an option. Tomorrow? Yes, why not?”