Inter coach Simone Inzaghi was delighted with his side’s performance in their 3-0 win over Sampdoria in Serie A yesterday, and admitted he was looking forward to Marcelo Brozovic’s return.
The Nerazzurri were comfortable victors at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza against a struggling Blucerchiati, with goals from Stefan De Vrij, Nicolo Barella, and Joaquin Correa settling the contest.
In an interview with Italian television broadcaster Sky Sport Italia after the final whistle, as reported by FCInterNews.it, Inzaghi heaped praise on his team and felt that they were a joy to watch, and that a recent run of wins in Serie A had brought confidence to the squad.
“Absolutely this is my best Inter team, we are doing well, confident, are getting convincing results but we have to continue,” the former Lazio tactician declared.
“Nobody slows down in this league but this October was practically perfect.
“It’s hard to pick the best thing about this, but perhaps it’s the fact that I have so much fun watching this team play.
“We know what we want, we have our targets,” he continued.
“We play every two and a half days but we are fine, now only Brozovic is missing and when a coach can choose with options it is better.”
Inter currently trail Napoli by eight points and face the league leaders in January, after the World Cup break.
However, Inzaghi refused to be drawn on whether the gap was too large to bridge and if conclusions could be drawn yet, and instead urged his side to focus on each game at a time, starting with Tuesday’s Champions League fixture against Bayern Munich.
“Clearly the calendar must be looked at, from here to the break we have challenging matches but at the moment the table must be looked at relatively.
“We have to see the performances, we have made mistakes at times while the others were pushing on.
“We have three important games plus the challenge with Bayern Munich, where we will have to play a serious game like the ones we are playing in this period.”
Inter have been without Croatia international Brozovic but the midfielder is closing in on a return, with Inzaghi offering a timeframe ahead of the Derby d’Italia against Juventus next weekend.
The coach also took the opportunity to praise Hakan Calhanoglu for filling in for Brozovic’s role during his absence, and felt he had done a good job in plugging the gap.
“He (Calhanoglu) is doing very well, but so are (Henrikh) Mkhitaryan and Barella. I realised that the injury was serious and we were in a delicate moment.
“(Kristjan) Asllani is growing day by day but the San Siro is an important stage and so I thought about putting Hakan in, as I knew he could play this role in the best possible way.
“He probably won’t be available on Tuesday, but I hope Brozovic can recover for Juve, then it will be an embarrassment of options that will make me happy.
“A coach is paid to choose, and I will choose game by game,” Inzaghi added.
The former striker came up against his ex-Lazio teammate and current Sampdoria coach Dejan Stankovic in the fixture.
Inzaghi was asked to reminisce about his Serie A debut, as he scored for Piacenza in a 1-1 draw in 1998 to cancel out his opposite number’s goal for the Aquile, and he had fond memories of the occasion and the support of coach Giuseppe Materazzi.
“It was my debut in the top flight, a goal that I remember with great pleasure.
“There were still the three changes to make, I was 22 and Materazzi gave me great confidence, he was a very important coach for me.”
Upon taking the Inter job in 2021, Inzaghi brought Correa with him from Lazio and the tactician felt that the Argentine had the strength and support to win over Nerazzurri fans.
“He knows that I have a lot of faith in him and last year when he was well he did important things.
“He had a little problem but now he’s back.
“The San Siro is important but he has a great personality and has won in his career, knowing that there is competition at Inter but I see him working every day, and it will be an added value,” Inzaghi concluded.
