Inter head coach Simone Inzaghi was keen to stress that forward Joaquin Correa had recently recovered from an injury after the Argentine was removed from the pitch during the second half of Inter’s Serie A clash with Sassuolo this evening.
Speaking to Italian broadcaster DAZN after the match, the coach gave his immediate reaction to the match and also gave his thoughts on how some of his players performed including the Argentine who was substituted during the match.
Correa made his second start for the Nerazzurri since joining from Lazio in the summer, but the 27-year-old was unable to have much of an impact as his team struggled against a strong Neroverdi performance.
The Argentine’s night ended along with three of his teammates when the coach decided to take drastic action by making four substitutions.
In the end, the manager’s gambit paid off, with substitute Edin Dzeko scoring the equalizer and winning the penalty from which the winner came about, but Inzaghi was clear that this didn’t reflect badly on Correa.
Inzaghi began that “We approached the first fifteen minutes well, then we came apart and we suffered at the hands of Sassuolo. Even at the beginning of the second half I think we approached it well but I wanted more impetus.”
“You could see the tiredness but there was a great reaction,” he went on. “The team remained in it. We happened to go behind, but tonight we showed pride and the desire to win. Now we go into the break with the guys who will stay here and then we hope that everyone will return in the best possible condition.”
Of Correa, the manager said that “Joaquin has come back an important injury but he wanted to be involved already in Kiev. We should congratulate him. He and Sanchez are returning, Lautaro will have to catch his breath having started them all.”
“Normally I’ll have to let the team catch its breath,” the coach went on, “today the changes helped us a lot by coming on in the best way, even D’Ambrosio.”
On whether resting on the bench was good for Dzeko, Inzaghi stated that “It would be good for everyone. The calendar changes are possible, we have been saying this for years. But we have to get used to it, like us there are also the other teams that play in cup competitions.”
He reflected, “The coach must understand how to rotate players and understand who needs rest.”
On whether his team’s issues in the first half were tactical or physical the coach stated, “I think it can be both. If we look at Sassuolo, when they defend they leave 3-4 important players on top. We took preventive measures, we could have been more careful. But it is an aspect on which we can improve.”
Asked about the comeback win, Inzaghi stated that “I would like to go over it sometime. But it has happened four times in seven games, we should work on this because we have to strike first.”
On midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu he said, “I’m happy, he has to grow like everyone else. Hakan has alternated excellent matches with difficult ones, he did very well on Saturday while he suffered tonight. But he will give us a lot.”
Giving his message to the rest of Serie A, the Nerazzurri coach stated that “This team wants to stay at the top, they work and don’t give up. Looking at the others seems premature to me, let’s look at ourselves going from game to game and we’ll see what happens.”
