Inter closed out 2018 with a victory against Empoli, a victory that consolidates the Nerazzurri’s third spot in the Serie A table.
This is how Inter coach Luciano Spalletti commented on his teams performance to Sky Sport.
Have Inter been running on diesel for a while now?
“There are games where things can go badly if you do not deal with them in the right way.
“We did not have any impact and we were not brilliant in taking possession, the same with exploding on the wings. We were better in the second half though, where they got tired and we, despite the conditions, managed to create problems.
“Although they still managed to find space and made it hard for us to get back when they got possession and our fullbacks were a bit unbalanced.
“It was an important victory that was well deserved.”
Are you convinced Keita Baldé has done enough to be a starting player now?
“We have individuals that enable us to play with full strength teams even when some players are missing.
“It is impossible for everyone to play all the time. If you can alternate and get the best out of every player then you can bring home these kind of points.”
Is Keita very popular within the group?
“He is a great guy and is always in a good mood, joking with everyone.
“He is good at talking both Roman dialect as well as Italian so he likes to entertain his teammates with his language. I found a completely different person in respect to what I heard from his period with Lazio.”
What does Inter represent for you? What ambitions have you set for 2019?
“We have to perform well in the league as well as the Europa League. Then you have the Coppa Italia which, if you win the first game, takes you close to the final.
“Do we need to lift a trophy? There are only two we still can win because Juventus have already won the Serie A. They’re a team that is superior to everyone else on an individual level.
“Then of course we have to improve, because even today we lost some balls that a team at our level just cannot afford to lose, giving the opponent a chance to counter attack easily.
“And then there’s the fact that we fail to close the game and are left with fear during the final minutes.
“In games like these, you start from the victory, if you do not win you talk about a good performance.
“Today, Empoli can talk about the performance. We cannot do this.”
Nainggolan and Martinez?
“I chose Radja because we lacked some explosiveness, he raises the level when it comes to how we manage the ball, even when you put pressure on him he never lets you counter attack.
“I put him on the pitch in order for him to help me out, this was a coach evaluation.
“We all want the best for him, he is a sensible guy that has every quality for a person who behaves well.
“Sometimes he gets attracted by other things and if you play at Inter and have other things disturbing you, those things keep you from reaching certain levels.
“Lautaro is a central attacker and when you ask him to fall back you lose some of his qualities. He is not Keita who can start from the halfway line, run 60 meters without anyone catching him.
“For Martinez, this is more difficult, but he is good at shaking things up because he has certain qualities. He is a strong kid.”
