Nicolo Barella has thanked Antonio Conte for making him mentally stronger and picked out a turning point in Inter’s season.
Barella has enjoyed a tremendous second season with the Nerazzurri following his move from Cagliari in 2019, scoring three goals and providing 13 assists in all competitions.
The midfielder gave a long interview to France Football today, in which he praised Antonio Conte’s tactical genius and told Inter’s style critics to back off.
In a second part of the interview, Barella discussed how his move to Inter came about and recalled: “Inter had shown an interest in me, but when Conte arrived it was an extra factor which pushed me to choose them.
“He chose his players to create this group which he’s transformed in one year.
“The players have done everything he’s asked of us, from preparing games to showing a desire to win.
“Conte is a very direct person and you can see it in his interviews; if there’s something he doesn’t like he tells us directly and we like that.
“We’re always going at full speed with him, too; we can’t relax for one moment in training.”
Barella made a slow start to life at Inter and he is happy to admit that this was because he hadn’t adapted to Conte’s mentality straightaway.
“I wasn’t playing much at the start of last season because I didn’t adjust to his mentality at first, I needed time and so others who deserved to play more were ahead of me,” the 24-year-old explained.
“A coach is like an older brother, he has a direct and sincere relationship with you.
“If we need to discuss things, we discuss then, so when I wasn’t playing I know it’s because I wasn’t ready.
“I was always a key player at Cagliari and so I wasn’t used to having to earn my spot in the side during training; I had to work on my mentality.
“Now I feel stronger.”
Inter have become Serie A champions for the first time since 2010 and Barella believes last season’s achievements were critical in setting up their Scudetto charge this year.
“I thought we had a real chance to win the Scudetto this season, we just needed a year to know the coach a bit better,” he argued.
“We began this season with the aim of winning the league, we’ve always spoken about our target of winning the Scudetto.
“Last season we came second and reached the UEFA Europa League final; for a few people that was a failure, but it led us to win this title.”
Barella had praise for Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez before picking out a key moment of Inter’s season, when they beat Juventus 2-0 in the Derby d’Italia.
“Lukaku and Lautaro were already strong last season, but they’ve found a balance and understood each other’s skills set more,” he added.
“They have a special understanding now.
“As for our rivals this season, you need to credit AC Milan because they did something unexpected (by staying top for so long), but when they stumbled we took advantage.
“As for Juventus, they’ve started a new project but the 2-0 win in the reverse fixture was a strong message from us.”
Inter’s Champions League exit in the group stage remains the one disappointing note of the season, and Barella remains frustrated at how Conte’s side shot themselves in the feet.
“It was a bad result,” Barella admitted.
“We were architects of our own downfall, like we were last season.
“We had the chance to win and make it through to the last 16, but we already had the Scudetto as our objective before we were knocked out.
“Perhaps it was an opportunity for us to concentrate even more on the league.”