Inter coach Antonio Conte spoke to gathered reporters at a press conference earlier tonight, after the Nerazzurri’s swift 3-0 win over Genoa. His discussed the season’s regrets, Romelu Lukaku and Barcelona star Lionel Messi.
“I think we’ve won 76 points which is a good haul, but it’s not enough to win. The league will be won by someone else, we must have the ambition to try to get as high as possible because then beyond the placement there are clear numbers that testify to good or bad work.”
The 50-year-old Italian coach moved onto talking about what regrets he has from his first season in charge.
“If I have to choose games where I was bitter, I choose two, the ones against Sassuolo and Bologna. Against one there was an equaliser in the 90th minute after scoring a goal in the 86th minute, against Bologna we lost to them as ten after missing a penalty.
“There was great regret and anger on my part, in other games we gave it all, like in Verona and against Fiorentina. There are years where you sow little and reap a lot, we’ve sown a lot and harvested little.
“This year, however, many things didn’t turn out the right way, but the guys are professionals and they want to do something important and to improve compared to the last years. And so, you have to give them credit. And there are some numbers that comfort us.”
The former Chelsea and Juventus boss spoke about Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku, who scored twice to secure three points against the Rossoblu earlier this evening.
“Romelu is an atypical player because although he’s 1.90 meters tall, he’s also fast, he can be a reference point but even from the middle of the pitch he attacks space like an American football player.
“I insisted on having him here and he can still grow with his first touch, technical ability, in attacking the goal with decisiveness. He’s only 27 years old and if he wants to keep growing, and he feels like it, he has important and remarkable margins.”
He spoke about how the Nerazzurri had lost 20 points from an advantageous position this season and if this caused him to regret the way things went.
“In the end there are moments you have to go through to understand and try to avoid repeating mistakes. As I said before I have two games of regret, Sassuolo and Bologna, we’re guilty, we dropped five points.
“In the others the guys gave it their all, honestly, while in the others they gave everything but lacked the killer instinct to kill the game. They weren’t there to lose, for a team that has the ambition to win you don’t have to, but the important thing is not to persevere in the mistake. And if you understand, you come out of it even stronger.”
Finally, Conte commented on the rumours linking Inter with Barcelona star Lionel Messi, and if the Italian would one day coach the Argentine striker.
“I think our CEO has already answered that. We’re talking about fantasy football, right now it’s not a situation that can be approached by Inter for many reasons.
“I don’t think there’s a madman in the world who doesn’t want Messi, but these are situations that are very far from Inter, from what you’re trying to do and build. We need to create a solid foundation, and then eventually things happen.
“This is fantasy football, but in these situations the team is always Inter, it’s not the first time that Messi has approached us, despite the denials. But we like the fact that we’re always in the middle. I’m just saying this so as not to say that what has been written is nonsense.”
Inter are now four points behind rivals and league leaders Juventus, who can secure their 9th straight league title with a win over Sampdoria tomorrow evening.