Inter midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu feels that he and his teammates did not get their approach right against Empoli this evening as they had done against AC Milan in the Supercoppa Italiana.
Speaking to Italian broadcaster Sky Sport Italia after the 1-0 Serie A loss to the Tuscans, via FCInterNews, the 28-year-old contrasted the Nerazzurri’s poor showing this evening to their excellent performance to beat the Rossoneri last week.
Inter will have come into this evening’s match high on confidence after their emphatic 3-0 win over city rivals Milan last week.
For this reason, it was perhaps perplexing to see that the Nerazzurri looked far from their best even long before the sending off of defender Milan Skriniar which made life even more difficult for them.
As far as Calhanoglu is concerned, there is no doubt that Inter did not take the right approach this match, and from now on they have to do better.
“It has to be said that Empoli are a very technically skilled team who play good football,” the Turk said.
“We were struggling, we didn’t take to the pitch as well as we had done against Milan.”
“It was difficult to play with ten men,” he continued, “it’s always tiring to play at a numerical disadvantage.”
Calhanoglu noted that “We slipped up and lost, but it’s still a long season.”
“We’re sorry to the fans who came to the stadium before the match and gave us a boost by showing their support, we’re sorry.”
And of the now significant gap behind league leaders Napoli in the table, the midfielder reflected that “Thirteen points is a huge gap, but we have to keep going and not stop.”
“I know it feels hard to believe but there’s still a long way to go.”
Calhanoglu closed by emphasizing that “We have to win and not slip up any more like today.”
