Press conference with Stefano Pioli ahead of tomorrow’s game against Genoa.

From Europa League to Serie A. Crucial match tomorrow against Genoa, this is Stefano Pioli’s thoughts about tomorrows game:

How good would it feel to follow up Thursday’s win with another one tomorrow? “It would be really important to us if we should win tomorrow. For the standings, for the moral and for our momentum. We are a bit behind and want to improve, December will be tough and intense since we have three games in ten days.”

Is Felipe Melo important for you? “Yes, he has a lot of experience and personality, he’s doing well at the moment and is at our disposition as the rest of his teammeates.”

How much to you change your ideas of football in order to fit the team? “I don’t, because even if we play with a 3-man defence, which we haven’t made a decision on wether to do or not, our ideas remain the same. We always try to stay compact and to be proactive, tomorrow we have to move well. There are principles in football you have to follow, no matter what formations you use.”

What individual performances do you expect? “I have a lot of quality players that can change the outcome of a game and make us win, I think it’s reasonable to expect that from them.”

Your thoughts about Genoa? “Juric is doing a great job, Genoa is always well organised and play tough. We have to be at our highest level. They have done well against the top teams and have the second best defence in the league. But we are prepared and we know we have to win tomorrow.”

Is it important with a winning streak to close this year? “There are still a lot of games to be played, to start looking at the standings now would be to fool ourselves. We have to stay focused on the present, which is tomorrow’s game in front of our fans.”

Thursday you were contested by the Curva. How do you handle a situation like that and what do you have to say to the fans? “At the moment we have to accept all the criticism, the fans wanted to express their disappointment and they should be allowed to. Our goal is to honor our next commitments, we have the ability to score and to win and thereby get the points we need.”

In order to get back at the top there are a lot of points to get, does this mean you have to ask the players to sacrifice a lot? “If the players don’t sacrifice themselves you get nowhere, it’s the foundation from which you get good results. it’s part of our job and whoever plays tomorrow has to give 100% from the start and has to play well.”

Is managing the defence the key for turning this team around? “The team has to do better in the non-possessive phase of the game, this is achieved by being well organised and to stay attentive. Each season is different from the last one. Last season Handanovic did some miraculous saves and I hope he can continue to do so. But this team has the characteristics to become more solid.”

In the second half Inter seems to drop momentum? “The physical status is still improving. the team was in a good, not great condition but we’re working on that. Tomorrow we play at home so we have to believe, from the first to the last minute, that we can win.”

When do you think we can see “your” Inter and are the experimenting days over? “I think the players know what I want. We are on the right track but a month isn’t enough to build the right mentality. I think we will see some results soon though.”

What is the most important error the team has to avoid to commit tomorrow? “We have to be compact and attentive. Believe that we can win and give everything we have.”

Do you think it’s better to give Gabigol some playing time in another team? “It’s a reasonable question but I have to stay in the present which means three very important games. Then me and Piero (Ausilio) will evaluate and try to make the best decisions for the player.”

Playing 3-4-3, are there any alternatives to Biabiany and Candreva? “I think Perisic is an alternative, as are other players. I don’t know if we will play like that tomorrow.”

What is the real value of this team? “I think there is a great potential in the team. Juventus is a stronger team because they are built on a long-term idea. But we have a lot of qualities, now is the time to show them.”