Inter coach Antonio Conte spoke to gathered reporters in a press conference today, ahead of the Nerazzurri’s league clash against Lazio tomorrow afternoon. His words were noted by Italian media outlet FcInterNews.
First, he spoke about how the squad are feeling ahead of tomorrow’s game.
“We arrive there well because it’s the third close commitment and it will be for Lazio too. We have all the players at our disposal. That’s good.”
The 51-year-old Italian coach commented on the importance of winning tomorrow’s clash against the Biancocelesti.
“Last year we lost four games, one against them at the Olimpico. We know that it’s an important, hard, commitment against an excellent team. We would like to come out with a better result than last year.”
He touched on whether he believes that the team are ready for the game.
“To feel ready for the games you have to play them. You have to experience these demanding games. Surely this game with Lazio is one, but in some ways every match has its difficulties.
“Against Benevento, we had to realise the situation immediately and fight at the game to win it. With Lazio we face another kind of match, they are a great team that last year had the ambition to try to win the Scudetto by challenging Juventus.
“We will have to be very careful. At the same time, we must not upset ourselves and we must continue on our path.”
The former Chelsea and Juventus coach was not sure what answers he would receive from his squad in this match.
“We are all curious to see what kind of answers we can get in this kind of games, but as I said before we are working and we want to continue on this path.”
Conte did not think that the Inter team would change too much for tomorrow’ game, as it is important to have a clear identity.
“Great teams need to have their own mentality and appearance at all times. The opponent must be studied and respected, but without fear.
“Big teams approach hard games it in the same way as the others. Since my arrival at Inter we have tried to take this path, not changing ourselves for anyone.
“It’s right to go forward even if there were some missed steps, continuing to do what we are working for.”
He confirmed that Chilean midfielder Arturo Vidal would be available for the fixture.
“He is fine. He has trained and is available.”
The 51-year-old Italian coach touched on how important Moroccan wing back Achraf Hakimi for his game.
“Surely we are talking about a player who has specific characteristics in the offensive phase. In this system having players with these characteristics allows you to give breadth and quality and this makes you more dangerous.
“Maybe you pay defensively, but at the same time we are working with the player to make him a modern and complete player, good also in the defensive phase.
“He is working hard. I am also very happy with Perisic and Young.”
Conte commented on the importance of trying to manage the ratio between goals scored and goals conceded.
“We are working on it and we create these situations every day because we are doing important things in terms of possession.
“At the same time, we have to be good and balanced to avoid counter attacks. We must not be unprepared, then it is also up to the skill of the opponent. If I have to decide between a 0-0 and a 5-4 I’d say that the second one is better.”
The 51-year-old Italian refused to comment on the situation regarding Portuguese midfielder Joao Mario.
“Sorry not to answer, but you know I don’t talk about the market.”
He was also evasive regarding the position of Belgian midfielder Radja Nainggolan.
“Afterwards you will have the news about him.”
Finally, Conte discussed whether it bothers him that a coach’s work is often judged by the results, and the results alone.
“In Italy, we based our final judgement on the results. Tactically you do not look to see, maybe like in Spain, the beauty of the game or the organization.
“In Italy judgements are very linked to the final result. At the same time, we have to believe in our work because sometimes the result is negative and we receive negative comments.
“We have to be good not to be influenced by this and give our best. We have to give the pleasure of seeing a good game and if we manage to win then it is the icing on the cake, but our goal is also the beauty of the game.”
