Inter head coach Simone Inzaghi is happy with what his team has done this season even without winning the Serie A title.
Speaking to Italian broadcaster DAZN at the end of the Nerazzurri’s 3-0 win over Sampdoria, the coach gave his retrospective thoughts on his first campaign in charge and also gave the view that without the distraction of their Champions League round of sixteen tie against Liverpool they would have gotten more points in the league.
The Nerazzurri had a night of mixed emotions, winning 3-0 on the night in fairly comfortable fashion but ending the evening in tears as AC Milan also won 3-0 in their match against Sassuolo to clinch the Scudetto.
For the entire season, Inzaghi can look back on both positives and negatives, but the coach’s overall impression is a positive one.
Asked what the prevailing mood is at the end of the season, he responded “I’d say pride. The final round of applause at the stadium and how they welcomed us on arrival, it was all very nice.”
“Congratulations to the squad for an excellent season that could have been extraordinary with the Scudetto,” he continued. “Congratulations to Milan for the 86 points, but also for us for getting 84 points. I’m proud of this group, we’ve accomplished great things, just like Milan.”
Asked what the Rossoneri had that his team hadn’t this season, the coach responded “Two points. And they were consistent over the final match.”
“Beyond that I can only look at our own house,” he added, “the two-legged tie against Liverpool had an effect over our bad period, but 84 points is still a lot.”
“I applaud my team,” Inzaghi went on, “and then in the next few days we’ll analyze where we could have done better and how we could have won the Scudetto.”
He said that “We’re Inter, we’ve won two trophies, but it leaves a bitter taste in our mouths for how we missed out on the title. We’ll have to try to erase those two points between us and Milan.”
The coach called the season a “Long and demanding journey. Two trophies, and in the Champions League we lost against Real and Liverpool. But I have to be consistent and say that nobody likes finishing second.”
Of plans with President Steven Zhang, he said that “We’ll meet in the next few days and discuss things with cool heads. We have to do things right because our fans deserve more to celebrate.”
Of his AC Milan counterpart Stefano Pioli, Inzaghi said that “I have to congratulate you on this wonderful duel. We faced each other four times, we fought for the Scudetto until the end. Credit also goes to Milan.”
“The most satisfying aspect of the season is that we had started out being predicted to miss out on top four and then in January people were already writing our names on the Scudetto,” Inzaghi said.
“Since I arrived, the opinion of Inter has changed and it’s been thanks to the work that we’ve done,” he added.
Of the tactical style of the team, Inzaghi said that “We have an identity, we’ve always created a lot even in matches in which we didn’t win. My teams have always played an attractive style of play, so I’m satisfied. In the next few days we will analyze where we need to improve.”
Of the summer transfer window and making sure there aren’t big losses, he said that “We have to meet with the club. Lukaku, Hakimi and even Eriksen were very significant losses.”
“We worked hard to stay competitive,” he added, “our hope is that we can start again in the best way possible, with an even more competitive squad.”
