Inter’s Uefa Champions League adventure started off with a disappointing draw at home against the team predicted to finish last in the group, Slavia Prague.
After the match, Nerazzurri coach Antonio Conte was far from happy when answering questions from the gathered press during the official post match press conference.
“We have to be disappointed, because this was a poor performance, we showed very little of the football we want to play. Starting from that, I am disappointed and I take full responsibility. I didn’t prepare like I should have, not before the game and not during the game, maybe because there was so little time to prepare.”
“I can’t be content, neither can any of my players. I think we didn’t show much of the football we train for and Slavia Prague was better than us in all departments: pressure, intensity and handling a game of this international level. We have to understand that there is still a long way to go and we have to get some stability when we are in difficult situations. But I repeat: I am the first to blame for this performance, a performance I am far from content with.”
“I would always like to see improvement, however today, talking about the football that we showed we took a step backwards. Plan B? What plan B? We don’t train to play long balls. We practice playing under pressure in order to find solutions, but today we just weren’t any good in doing that, and I am the first to say I’m sorry. Candreva took a hit, I haven’t heard yet about his status.”
“We practice against teams like Udinese, where the central players create the attack, but also in situations where they put a lot of pressure on you. We now how to handle these situations, for a short period in the second half we managed to handle that.”
“We can’t be happy with what we did tonight and we know we have to be a lot better than this, these things are part of the growing process. Something I have said after our victories as well. I understand that people wants to see results immediately, but at the end you have to see where you end up.”
“I’m happy because the fans encouraged us until the end. For me tonight, one point or zero points are the same. We have to get home furious with our performance in order to avoid similar situations.”
“We are always happy to see the owner being close to us, and we are happy to see our President coming to the games so often. It’s important that the player can feel that. We cannot set limits that work as alibis and I have always said, even after the victories, that we have to continue fighting. That job is on me.”
“For sure, the performance was not good and we showed very little of the idea of playing football that we have. Of course we can improve and we have to improve. I take full responsibility, because the group needs time to grow. When I talk about the past you cannot think that someone can arrive and change everything with a magic wand.”
“There is a need for patience and hard work, the only thing I want is for the players to exit the game with a jersey dripping of sweat. That’s the only thing I take with me from tonight’s game, the character of the players.”
