Inter coach Cristian Stellini, assistant to head coach Antonio Conte, discussed the Nerazzurri’s league clash against Parma tomorrow evening in an interview with Italian broadcaster InterTV.
“An important game because all games are important, and also because this one comes after an annoying draw like the one we had at home against Sassuolo. It’s been analysed and this experience will be important, we’ve understood that against Parma we must be more precise in front of goal.”
He commented on how the two teams drew in their first meeting earlier in the season.
“It was a draw in which we complicated our lives in the first half, creating problems for ourselves. Then we resumed the game and played it well and with intensity, knowing that Parma is still a very difficult opponent for everyone in Serie A and therefore for us too. We should be up to the challenge of a complicated opponent and perform well because otherwise all the games become difficult.”
The Inter assistant coach highlighted how small moments make the difference, rather than a team starting and finishing the game with the same system.
“More or less all games are like that, provided that within a game there isn’t just one, but there can be more. It’s not necessary that a game starts and ends in the same way or within the same project, so we’ll have to be good at seizing the moments that the game will give us to bring home the result we want. You have to be adaptable to interpret the game in the best possible way, and this was a flaw in our last game and now we have to change the attitude within the game.”
Stellini confirmed that there was psychological work done after the disappointing 2-2 draw against Sassuolo in the midweek game.
“Absolutely. In this period, especially after the lockdown, all of us are living a new experience that doesn’t give us points of reference, in which we know where we are now but we don’t know where we will be after a lot of games. We have eleven games to play and one at a time will lead us to the result we deserve to have. But we have to live them one at a time, knowing that the unknowns will be many and for this reason each one becomes a fundamental reality. We must prepare them by always recovering both physical and psychological energies, because without the head it is difficult for the body to support you.”
He spoke about the Nerazzurri’s stretched midfield department and if any players will recover in time for tomorrow’s game.
“We are counting on recovering some, today we will make the final evaluations with the coach and the medical staff. We hope so and we’re working for that, but at the moment we can’t have any certainties, we’ll have more tonight. We’re short in midfield, but we also have the utmost confidence for those who will be on the pitch.”
The Inter assistant discussed the Nerazzurri’s five changes to the squad between the Sampdoria and Sassuolo games, and if that rotational style will be used again.
“Making predictions is difficult, it’s a totally new situation and we don’t have the experience to understand what could happen. We have to live from day to day, planning. It’s a new aspect and so we have to be intelligent to understand what the future moments are and will be, because we know how we start but not how and when we will arrive. You don’t even know what the end will be, so you can’t have a real plan. You have to be good and prepare every game so that ‘one game is worth one’, the one against Parma is now the most important.”
Stellini commented on whether it was worse to be without coach Antonio Conte or Slovakian defender Milan Skriniar.
“Both are very important suspensions, both have hardly ever been absent. Fortunately, however, we’ll get to the match with our coach and with confidence in all the players who will take to the pitch. The preparation for the match will be the same, so the motivations will remain the same and the coach will always be present.”
He touched on whether he expects Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen to continue his growth.
“It’s clear that growth is never continuous. It will have to be constant, but every game and every moment of the game makes history in itself. We are more than satisfied with what Christian is doing, like all his teammates. We expect him to continue to improve, but we’re sure he will.”
Finally, Stellini talked about the summer heat and how playing in the 21:45 game still doesn’t fully help to reduce the issues.
“It’s a normal thing, we’ve also seen it in Germany that there was a drop in intensity in the game at first, we expected it. Then we’ll have to do a good job to recover our psychophysical energy because all games are important and we want to keep our pace and intensity always high.”