Inter coach Luciano Spalletti was interviewed by Italian broadcaster Sky Sport Italia after the goalless draw against Udinese in the Serie A away at the Dacia Arena.
“A good performance, I don’t know if we are talking about one point gained or two points lost. But the team did what it had to do. We had a lot of opportunities without conceding any counter attacks. Maybe 6-7 times we arrived in their penalty area in order to score, some of the times we should have finished it off. Instead they covered their area well and we just weren’t able to put it in the net.”
In the second half we could see both Icardi and Lautaro together on the pitch, is this a preview of what could be seen next season?
“You have to get used to it, I make all the choices until the end of this season. We have to stay balanced. Today, during the short stint with both of them on the field, we lost some balls in dangerous situations and we didn’t have the characteristics to defend, I always have to look for balance. If we should have done more? Absolutely, but with the offensive wingers, the fullbacks that went high and Nainggolan we should have more quality. Creating a lot of opportunities and staying balanced in defense is hard. During the second half I had all the three offensive players up top and we could have done more raising the level and getting more one-on-one situations.”
Any thoughts on why you have some difficulties in the first half?
“They come from the fact that at times we lose the ball because we play too complicated and for that reason we conceded some counter attacks. And I repeat, we don’t have the characteristics for playing a team that blocks in front of their penalty area. We need patience against teams that defend and close up all the spaces.”
Looking at the future, another solid defensive season with only 28 goals conceded. How much is that fact due to the offensive wingers?
“In my opinion, everything starts with possession. This gives you advantages and you are not left on the edge of your area where you have to defend yourself low. To dominate like that makes you not concede as many goals, in addition of course to some very skillful individual defending. Then it is easy to speak about a playmaker and two strikers, but my ideas are diverse. I see a lot of debating going on about the role of a coach, I am used to go to a game and tell my players how to play, obviously leaving some room for interpretation from a qualitative individual level. We have grown and we have taken the right steps, we only lacked the final pass tonight. I expect a lot from Roma and Atalanta, therefore we have to be at our best. And the quest every week is for that three pointer at the end of the week.”
