Inter head coach Simone Inzaghi feels that his team showed how hungry they were to get back to winning ways in Serie A against Sassuolo.
Speaking to Italian broadcaster DAZN after the match, the coach praised his team’s performance and also the individual display of goalkeeper Andre Onana, and explained his motivation for taking off midfielder Kristjan Asllani at half time.
The Nerazzurri had lost their last two matches in Serie A, although a Champions League win over Barcelona in midweek had been a much more positive sign.
Against the Neroverdi it was imperative to keep that momentum going, therefore, and Inzaghi’s men did just that,
The coach called his team “An Inter team with a great desire to win that allowed us to overcome the fatigue from Tuesday’s match.”
“It was a tough match, but the team had an incredible desire to win,” he continued.
“Now we have to continue on from these two wins that have improved our morale and position in the table.”
“We’re already getting ready for Barcelona where we’ll make a couple rotations in midfield and in attack,” he added.
Of captain Samir Handanovic, who was benched in favour of Andre Onana against the Neroverdi, the coach said that “He gives us added value on and off the pitch.”
“That’s the only way we can keep on this course.”
“Everyone gave us a big hand,” the coach said, “including those players who came off the bench.”
“In the last 25 minutes we improved technically as we should have done right away, and so we won.”
Of the opening of the match, which saw Sassuolo start strongly, Inzaghi admitted that “We made some technical errors, and Sassuolo have good pressure.”
“And then when you look at how well the team did in the final few minutes you can see that we’re doing well physically, although that was also visible in the matches we lost.”
Asked whether he removed Asllani due to the fact that the 20-year-old was struggling against Sassuolo’s pressing, or because he was on a yellow card, Inzaghi explained “For both reasons.”
“He did very well against Roma, and today it was not easy to play through them,” he continued.
“Then he picked up a yellow which made things more difficult for him and so I put on Mkhitaryan who’s in good form, and I did it at halftime so that I didn’t use up one of the slots to make a change.”
“But Asllani is doing very well and just has to keep going like this.”
Of match-winner Edin Dzeko, the coach said that “Edin did very well, but so did Lautaro who came very close on two occasions.”
“Lauti just has to keep going like this, then his goal will come.”
“As a striker I would worry about a lack of a good performance, but not the lack of a goal,” he added.
Of Onana, who made his first ever start in Serie A, Inzaghi said that “He played the match I expected, following what he showed when he played in the Champions League.”
He called the Cameroonian “A quality goalkeeper, who’s showed me that he can compete for the starting spot with Handanovic.”
Of the squad rotations, he said that “Today I was thinking of starting de Vrij and Skriniar, but I can’t afford to lose any more players.”
“We hope to start getting other players back as soon as possible, because at the moment we’re struggling,” he said of dealing with injuries.
