Inter head coach Simone Inzaghi feels that the Nerazzurri have been the subject of a lot of transfer speculation and that it is always presumed that they’re selling top players rather than bringing them in.
Speaking to Italian broadcaster Sky Sport Italia following his team’s 2-1 victory over Lecce in their opening match of the Serie A season, the coach reiterated what he had said yesterday that he hopes the team is kept together in spite of rumours linking players with moves away.
Inzaghi made his stance clear in a press conference that he does not want any of the players from his starting eleven to leave before the transfer window slams shut at the end of the month.
The coach’s words came at a point when a large cloud of uncertainty has been hanging over the Nerazzurri due to reported interest in key players like Milan Skriniar and Denzel Dumfries, but he feels that this is a matter of newspapers putting the spotlight on these rumours.
“I don’t want to joke about this,” he said, “other teams are buying players every day, we end up in the newspapers only when we sell and then we’d also be favourites. The team must stay as it is.”
Asked if he has any indications that a big name player will be soon, Inzaghi replied “Absolutely not, that’s just talk. This is the team, we only need to find a central defender to take the place of Ranocchia and the club is taking steps to bring one in.”
Of the late victory that his team managed in their first match of the season, the coach said that “It was a win that we wanted with all our hearts. We believed we could do it until the end.”
“And that’s the most positive aspect of the evening, because after the first half an hour in which we did well, we lost our composure following the challenge on Lautaro. We have to analyze why we needed to wait until the 95th minute to find a winner.”
Regarding his extensive use of his substitutions throughout the match, Inzaghi said that “I have many solutions from the bench. Those players who came on did very well, as did those who played from the start.”
“Towards the end we were playing less possession football and going more directly into the box,” the coach continued. “We could have scored earlier, but we had to kill it off earlier.”
Regarding his selections of Matteo Darmian and Federico Dimarco in place of the likes of Denzel Dumfries and Alessandro Bastoni, he said that “I had doubts until this morning.”
“Then I decided that Dumfries would be more decisive coming on during the match, while Gosens and Darmian did very well before they dropped off,” he noted. “Bastoni must improve his physical condition too, but that’s the same as everyone who returned late.”
“We know that matches can be decided in the final minutes,” he said, “so it’s normal to see goals scored when both teams are tired. ”
“Tonight we ended playing a 4-2-4 shape,” he noted. “When you’re fortunate enough to be able to put Dzeko and Lukaku in the box, it makes it difficult for the opposition.”
Asked if he thought his team needed a mental jolt, Inzaghi replied “No, but we had to win first, we’re mature as a team. We lost our composure after the foul on Lautaro, but the images show what happened and there doesn’t need to be any controversy.”
