Christian Eriksen believes his upturn in form at Inter is down to having a better understanding with Antonio Conte now.
Inter are currently nine points clear of second placed AC Milan and 10 points clear of third-placed Juventus with 11 games left of this season.
Eriksen touched upon his rapport with Conte but many other topics as well in an extended interview with Italian broadcaster DAZN.
“Scudetto? It was one of the first words I learned, but we can only dream of it until we win it,” the midfielder said.
Eriksen then spoke on the moment which many have defined as the turning point for his Inter career, his match-winning free-kick against AC Milan in the Coppa Italia back in January.
“The perception is that things had changed from there,” the 29-year-old explained.
“From the outside it looked like a kind of awakening, but not for me.
“It almost seemed like: ‘Look, he still knows how to punish teams, he hasn’t disappeared.’
“The ball was going in the right direction.
“For me it’s always the same routine, I take five steps back, then slowly look at the ball.
“It’s about knowing where to hit the ball and the first thing is to send it over the wall.”
He also briefly recalled the free kick he very nearly scored in his first Milan Derby appearance last season.
“The free kick in the last derby year? Sure, I remember it well but it was further from the goal.
“It would have been even better to score that.”
Eriksen arrived at Inter as an attacking midfielder but now sees himself deployed more as a central midfielder, mostly in the role of mezzala, but he has also seen usage as a deep-lying playmaker.
“I don’t know if it’s a new Eriksen or the old one who plays a little more.
“In the current system I play a little deeper, so I’m more involved in defensive situations, I have to be ready for tackles or to get the ball back.
“Obviously, I usually played more advanced, I had to adapt.
“Little by little I learned and now I know very well how I have to play.
“I’ve been here for a year now and every day we do what the coach asks of us.
“Conte and I had to know each other more, now he knows me and I know him better.
“This makes it easier to understand how to play certain games.
“Double playmaker? You can also see that it is different than before when Marcelo Brozovic was a bit lonely.
“It is up to the coach to decide our positions.
“If you see, we don’t play like this in all games.
“It also depends on the opponent and how we can hurt them.”
Eriksen then went on to discuss playing the ball in behind to Romelu Lukaku, who has scored 25 goals across all competitions for Inter this season.
“This is a pass that all of us midfielders are looking for for Romelu, we know where he is.
“Any ball that goes his way is on the right side, so why not exploit the situation?
“I have a good relationship with Romelu, he is a good giant.
“We played against each other when we were kids and when he was at Anderlecht.
“He’s doing incredible things, he didn’t play like that in England either and I’ve played against him often.”
In conclusion he discussed Lautaro Martinez’s beautiful team goal during Inter’s 3-0 Milan derby win last month.
“The whole build-up was good, we often tried it in training.
“We made our opponents run where we wanted to, we created the right spaces.
“For me it was nice to make the right play in the right times.
“The smile upon leaving the field? Certainly it is a different smile compared to some time ago.
“The more you play, the happier you are.
“Seeing it from the outside, maybe someone thinks that I never laugh but it is absolutely not like that.”
