Inter coach Antonio Conte spoke about the Nerazzurri’s 2-1 win over SPAL today in an interview with Italian broadcaster Sky Sports Italia after the final whistle.
“We’ve been working since the first game to try to annoy the teams at the top of the table, I think we’re doing a great job but as I said it’s been 14 games and being back in the lead must fill us with pride, because we know the path we have undertaken to achieve 37 points.”
“At the same time it must give us a feeling of excitement. We must do more and improve to better manage games like the one today that seemed won, but then you suffer and in the end anything can happen, leaving you the risk of not winning a game you deserved to.”
He spoke about the Nerazzurri capitalizing on Juventus’ dropped points today, following their 2-2 draw against Sassuolo.
“Against Parma it was another game, we took the lead, we went under, but we had an excellent second half by drawing and deserving more. Today there was a desire, when there are these situations in which a strong team loses points you have to be good at taking advantage of it.”
“Against Parma we didn’t succeed, today we deserve it, but we must continue to grow looking at ourselves and not at the others.”
The 50-year-old Italian coach then briefly touched on the Milanese clubs’ plans in the upcoming January transfer market.
“Right now, it’s not right to talk about the transfer market. It would be disrespectful against my players. At a time of great difficulty for us, we had the opportunity to take our responsibilities, I see the glass as half full.”
“We’re still struggling with depth in some areas of the squad but I’m getting great answers from everyone. I prefer to talk about this, about those who are called into question and who respond to the task. The team talks about the market if and when it will be done and how it will be done.”
“Vidal? I had the pleasure of coaching him when he wasn’t at the top level yet because he came to Juve from Leverkusen, I worked there for three years and he’s a player who always gave me everything, just like the players are giving me everything today.”
The former Chelsea and Juventus coach also spoke about the attacking partnership of Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez.
“I hear the talk about Lautaro when he’s always been part of my project. He and Lukaku are working hard, Lautaro is growing a lot, before maybe he was living just for the goals but I have been clear, the best forwards are those who play for the team, they look for each other, they try to have useful games for the team.”
“Even Lukaku today had an incredible game even though he didn’t score a goal. And I repeat, they’re young players who aren’t the finished product yet, as I always say. The important thing is that they keep this desire, then it’s up to me to motivate them.”