Inter coach Simone Inzaghi has confirmed that Kristjan Asllani will be making his first start for Inter against AS Roma whilst Romelu Lukaku needs more time to recover, according to a report in the Italian media today.
Speaking during his press conference ahead of the match against AS Roma which takes place on Saturday at San Siro, via FCInternews, the coach talked about his selection plans in the wake of some serious injury concerns.
He confirmed that Kristjan Asllani will be starting for the Nerazzurri for the first time as Marcelo Brozovic is injured and he also said that Romelu Lukaku needs some more time to recover from his thigh injury.
“For Lukaku there was a slowdown in his recovery that takes away an important player from us. The staff are working, it’s been a month but it will still take a while.
“Asllani was chosen by me and the club. He is working well, he will start tomorrow. In midfield I have difficulties because I have him, Mkhitaryan, Barella and Calhanoglu. In addition to Brozovic, Gagliardini also failed to train in the last two days and today we’ll see if he’ll recover.”
Simone Inzaghi admitted that it will be a very tough game against Jose Mourinho’s side which will be made up of individual duels.
“Very challenging, made up of duels. A strong team, with a great coach. We have to prepare well, since yesterday I have seen all the lads again. We analysed the Udinese defeat and at the same time we prepared for tomorrow’s challenge.”
He also stressed that the 3-1 defeat against Udinese that was suffered befror the international break was the fault of the team and they know they must do more.
“The Udinese defeat was our fault, we conceded goals due to carelessness on our part. We know that we have to do more starting tomorrow.”
The coach was asked to explain the difference between last year’s start to the season and this one to which he said that the team must do better domestically.
“We have to do more and better. I would leave aside the defeat against Bayern, which is on another level. We had to do better against AC Milan and Lazio. Tomorrow we have another high-level clash and we will try to take it to our side.
“We’re a few points behind, we’re working and there wasn’t a lot of time in the break because I had four movement players and two goalkeepers. The analysis yesterday was clear, yesterday’s training comforted me. Let the field speak.”
Inter have been prone to some poor individual performances this season and he said everyone must improve, including himself.
“We all have to do more, me firstly. You pay for the slightest carelessness at certain levels. In the Champions League we are making our way, in the championship we are a few points behind. There have been criticisms, we have listened to the constructive ones and left the others aside. We know we have to do more.”
On if he feels the team are at risk: “We always are, every game you have to make so many decisions. We are trying to work harder and better but I am calm because I work daily with staff and players.”
Robin Gosens has had minimal involvement so far this season and Simone Inzaghi was asked how he is: “I have players who are doing well, Robin is one of them and I’m happy he found the national team again. On the left I have him, Dimarco, Darmian. I’ll make a choice after today’s training.”
On if the difficult times at Lazio felt different to now at Inter: “I had a very good relationship with Claudio Lotito and I have it with Steven Zhang who is always with me and my staff. In football, victories and trophies count.
“Fortunately in these seven years I have always managed to bring trophies and revenues. I hope to do it again like I did at Inter. We are a few points behind, but it seems to me that the league table sees Napoli and Atalanta ahead on merit. A few teams have lost points but with work we’ll go back up.”
The coach was also asked about the strengths and weaknesses of the Roma team: “A strong team, the only one that won a trophy together with AC Milan and us last year.
“We find an improved team, which is having a good run in the league and in Europe. They’ve had a lot of players in the national team and now we’ll have to see who will arrive more ready for the match.”