Inter assistant coach Massimiliano Farris heaped praise on Nerazzurri tactician Simone Inzaghi, whilst insisted that they were focused on catching Napoli in Serie A after the World Cup break.
After a mixed first half of the season, Inter languish in fifth place and trail the league leaders by 11 points after 15 games, but welcome Napoli to the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in their first game after the World Cup break, at the start of January.
In an interview with Italian television broadcaster Sky Sport Italia earlier today, and as reported by FCInterNews.it, Farris spoke of Inzaghi’s determination and passion for football, as well as the strong start that the 46-year-old had enjoyed to his career, with Lazio and Inter.
“I think he’s obsessed, he lives for football 24 hours a day!”, Farris joked.
“He’s also an exceptional guy, with great sensitivity and humanity, as evidenced by his approach towards the staff. He’s already achieved great results in this beginning career despite being young.”
Inter are set to travel to Malta in December for a training camp, before resuming the Serie A campaign after Christmas, and Farris hoped that the unknown factor of a mid-season World Cup could help in the title race.
“The recovery is an unknown factor for everyone, the season is an anomaly. We’ll travel for a week to avoid the onset of cold weather, put fuel in our muscles and wait for the players who will arrive from the World Cup, with the hope of bringing everyone to the same level in January,” he added.
“The gap to Napoli is important, they are doing something extraordinary.
“Compared to last year, we have three points less, it’s not so bad. To recover we have to think we can win the direct confrontation against them,” Farris went on.
“Starting again with Napoli is a further unknown, we need to understand how they are and how we are. Let’s hope that Napoli have some small stumbling blocks.”
Inter striker Romelu Lukaku has overcome a hamstring injury to feature for Belgium in the World Cup, as he came off the bench in their 2-0 defeat to Morocco today, and Farris was glad to see him back on the pitch.
“He did a great job to recover, then there was that unexpected relapse. The important thing, however, is that he’s fine.
“He has a great desire and wants to give a lot to Inter and Belgium, what matters now is that he gets back in shape,” he concluded.