Inter coach Antonio Conte discussed the Nerazzurri’s 2-1 win over Sampdoria in an interview with Italian broadcaster Sky Sports Italia after the game, aired late last night
“Kill the opponent, I always tell my players this. You have the chance, even against Napoli the match was clear, you create a lot, 1-1 and you go home and you’re subject to criticism.
“Today, you have to be determined, cynical, because one situation and you’re in trouble. You go from a 3-0 to a 2-1, this game was vital for us.
“We don’t have room to make mistakes, we had opportunities to make the game 3-0 and we didn’t take advantage of them. We want to get back in the game, we’re six points behind and there are 12 games to go. My wish is to have everyone at our disposal, we want to play our cards right, knowing that the margins of error are minimal.”
The former Chelsea and Juventus coach highlighted how the Milanese club need to become more clinical if they are to compete with the very best.
“These games must be a signal, when we can kill the opponent, we must do it. It’s not personality, but if you want to be a hero and win you have to learn how to be evil and when you have the chance you have to score goals and kill off the opponent.”
He touched on the title race and how the Nerazzurri have started to close the gap between themselves and rivals Juventus.
“Just that they say that we’re out of the title race, we were nine points behind, if we had drawn the direct clashes against Juventus, we’d be equal to them.
“The difference is there, we have room for growth, I’m satisfied with what I’ve seen. We did well, but if we want to do something extraordinary, we have to be more clinical. I have great confidence, we need poison, we need to feed hope.”
Conte spoke about how the team worked well in the offensive phase of the game this evening and the performance of Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen, who bagged an assist after setting up Romelu Lukaku at the start of the game.
“I am satisfied with the offensive department, we created a lot. I think they had a good game. Eriksen could have scored a couple of goals, he has to become more clinical too, he has to find the goal as well.
“We worked both tactically and physically with him. Everyone’s happy, but I find the flaws. We have licked our wounds after Napoli, not tonight.”
The 50-year-old Italian spoke about the Nerazzurri’s rivals in the title race, Lazio and Juventus.
“Those ahead of us can make mistakes. Lazio have all the credentials to do something extraordinary. Juve have shown over the years that they’re superior, this year it’s more difficult, and this situation makes things better unexpectedly.
“For me Juve remain a very, very strong team, used to playing certain games and Lazio can do something important.”
Finally, Conte talked about his ambitions for this season and how the club could still win the league title, should they play at the top of their game.
“We want to get in there and fight until the end, we’re playing for something important. We have to think we can win, if we want to build a winning mentality, we shouldn’t give up on our goals.
“Sorry about the Coppa Italia, we deserved more. We must give our lives in every match, we must not have regrets. I’m proud to be the coach of these guys.”
