Former Inter goalkeeper Marco Ballotta has shared his belief that he was expecting to see more from Inter than what they have produced in the early stages of the 2020/21 season.
After 10 games played across all competitions, Inter have just three wins to their name and are not sitting anywhere near where they were expected to either in the league or in the Champions League.
Inter are sitting in seventh place in Serie A, five points adrift of league leaders, city rivals, AC Milan. They meanwhile sit at the bottom of their group in the Champions League after three games played, none of which they have managed to win.
“I expected more, Conte can no longer make mistakes, the club has done everything he asked for,” Ballotta explained in an interview with Italian news outlet TuttoMercatoWeb.
“They have a higher potential even than Juve and in the end the results should arrive. They must make a qualitative leap that will have to arrive shortly.”
He proceeded to discuss the number of goals that Inter have conceded during this season: “There is less defensive solidity. This year Inter leaves something to be desired. I see errors from them in terms of attention. The attacking opponents must deserve to score, they must sweat to hit the back of the net.”
Next Ballotta spoke on the lack of fury this Inter side have shown in comparison to the level of fury they showed last season.
“It’s true, because it is with determination and concentration that the results are obtained. We see that now the team is not as bad as it needs to be.
“You can’t give anything away and you have to be convinced until the end. This is missing for now and everything revolves around Lukaku, even if in a team like that it shouldn’t be.”
Next Ballotta was asked if Samir Handanovic was at fault for Atalanta’s goal in Sunday’s match.
“A little, because he takes that little step to the right. Maybe he could have done a little more, even though the ball actually passed between the defender’s legs.”
In conclusion the former Lazio shot-stopper spoke on Inter’s Champions League campaign: “They must be more concrete in wanting to get results. Now I see them as being a bit subdued.
“This year they have everything to do well, if things don’t go the way they should go, Conte will be responsible. He has to get into the players’ heads more and he is capable of it.”
