Inter coach Antonio Conte discussed the Nerazzurri’s painful 2-0 defeat to Juventus at the Allianz Stadium in Turin earlier tonight in an interview with Italian broadcaster Sky Sports Italia, immediately after the match.
First, the former Juventus coach spoke about what lost the game for the Milanese club.
“After the first goal. I think the game was very even, we started better in the second half. We were in control of the situation, then Ramsey’s goal changed the game on a psychological level. They grew up, we suffered this goal without being able to recover. This is the analysis.”
Conte discussed what will happen now for the Milanese club, considering that their dream of winning the scudetto this year looks to be impossible.
“Today apart from the recovery we have a six-point difference with Juve, the two defeats against them. These are facts, we did well to stay in their wake, but it’s inevitable to make comparisons.
“You have to be positive and take the right things, even in defeats you can make comparisons that can help you grow in every respect, as experience, personality and quality.
“This defeat must help us to grow and understand how far apart we are, without throwing ourselves into discouragement. We lost the two games against them, the result speaks for itself.”
The 50-year-old Italian coach discussed the Coronavirus emergency and how it affects the players and staff mentally.
“We’re all human beings, we have families and worries, it’s normal. Surely pretending nothing is going on is difficult, it becomes difficult to manage even some situations because to keep your concentration high you have to raise your voice but the situation is delicate.
“I hope, however, that decisions will be taken to protect everyone. There is a need to protect everyone indiscriminately, then there are the competent bodies and we are committed to their decisions.”
Conte spoke about what improvements the squad still need to make.
“I think that on a character level we have a lot of room for growth, in these components you certainly need to improve to compete for important goals.”
The former Chelsea and Italy coach suggested that he wasn’t disappointed by his squad’s performance tonight.
“No, it’s also a question of the players’ characteristics. There are those who look more characterful, others less so. We have to grow from that point of view and try to be more decisive.”
Finally, Conte spoke about whether the team can do something new on a tactical level, considering the signings the Milanese club made in January’s transfer window earlier this year.
“Juve are a team that have improved year after year adding high quality players, Inter with me have been on the road for seven months.
“We also try to do our best in the composition of the squad, but today you can’t make comparisons between a structure that has dominated for eight years improving year after year and one that tries to play games like these with a higher goal than in the past.
“We must continue to work and implement year after year the quality and reach these levels that in Juve are very high, for character, experience and personality. The others are very far apart.”
Inter are now nine points behind the Old Lady, who are league leaders. Lazio are in second place, one point behind the Bianconeri.
