Antonio Conte has held his press conference in the press room at Inter’s Angelo Moratti Sports Centre training ground ahead of tomorrow’s first Derby della Madonnina of the season.
“I expect a typical derby, all the derbies are special and it will be no different tomorrow. We will be facing a very good team and have tried to prepare ourselves for it in the best way possible,” he began.
“We try to put the maximum commitment and give our best performances in all our matches. Sometimes we succeed better in games than in others but the boys always put in great commitment. We know we have so much to work and things to improve on but this does not scare us.”
Conte then proceeded to discuss the reported spat between Romelu Lukaku and Marcelo Brozovic following the Slavia Prague match.
“In general there is a lot said in newspapers and on TV about Inter. If in past years a lot has filtered out of the dressing room then we cannot accept it today. Perhaps other cubs are better at protecting certain situations. We have to improve on this so much, we have a lot of room for growth away from the pitch.”
He then spoke on the importance of winning games but also a downside to it.
“We have to play every game with a view to winning. Victory brings about a lot of positivity and enthusiasm. At the same time, it sometimes leads to complacency and we must be good at managing these situations. I would always like to win.”
Next Conte was asked what went wrong on Tuesday night as Inter drew 1-1 with Slavia Prague in the Champions League.
“The reasons for Tuesday’s game are first and foremost a strong opponent, who proved themselves last year in the Europa League. We will experience games like this. We have many boys who played for the first time in the Champions League whilst many others do not even have 10 appearances in the competition which suggests that experience counts for a lot.”
He was then asked what he made of Giovanni Trappatoni’s previous comments of Inter being like a centrifuge.
“What the masters say is not to be discussed [laughs]. You know how fond I am of the coach and how much I owe him.
“For sure it is not easy but we must try to eradicate any bad habits. For now we have focused on the pitch but even off it there are bad habits. We must be more impermeable but we will try to grow in this aspect. We do not only want to win on the field but off it too. This must be very clear.”
Romelu Lukaku was recently subjected to racist abuse and Conte then shared his views on the problem Italy are facing.
“It is getting worse and worse. I have came back to Italy after three years away and found everything to be worse. There is a lot of hatred and resentment. This is very bad and we are all guilty for this happening. We cannot exempt ourselves. I think it is bad for the generations that are coming because they are born in front of the keyboard reading hate and violence.
“The solution would be to send positive messages. Do not stir up violence. I think that communication has a very important role in this because the reader can read hatred or positive things and can continue on a certain wave.”
He was then asked about Brozovic’s perceived downturn in form in recent matches but stuck up for the Croatian.
“We are talking about a player who had a great start to the season. I am very happy with him, he is another player in our squad that has important margins for growth and can become one of the strongest in Europe.”
He concluded by discussing the fitness situations of Antonio Candreva, Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez.
“We will evaluate Candreva today. Lukaku has had a back injury but he is now fine. Alexis is working well and is taking important steps to get closer to being considered for the starting XI. He can add experience and a bit of competitive nastiness but we are waiting for him to provide the answers we are looking for.”
