Inter centre-back Francesco Acerbi has revealed that he convinced coach Simone Inzaghi to leave him on the pitch after picking up an early yellow card in the 2-1 win over Cremonese.
The loanee from Lazio was given a booking after a sliding challenge on forward David Okereke with only 29 minutes played at the Stadio Giovanni Zini, just five days on from fellow defender Milan Skriniar earning a red card for two bookings in the first half of a 1-0 defeat to Empoli.
In an interview with Italian television broadcaster DAZN after the match, and as reported by FCInterNews.it, Acerbi admitted that he had to speak to Inzaghi and reassure him that he would remain disciplined, with the coach deciding to leave his defender on for the remainder of the game.
“He’s afraid of being left with 10 men due to those random chances that happen on the pitch. Today I didn’t know if he’d take me off or throw me down, but I told him to stay calm,” the Italy international claimed.
“A defender’s skill is knowing how to play with the yellow card. Attention is the main quality of a defender, with a yellow card you usually play with more care.”
Meanwhile, Acerbi was satisfied with the win and the way Inter bounced back from the loss to Empoli, but admitted that the scoreline left them at risk of dropping points again.
“After the defeat against Empoli, it was important to win on a pitch where so many struggled. It’s a sigh of relief, losing points here would have made everything difficult.
“We created a lot of chances, but if you don’t close certain games there is always danger.”
The former Sassuolo defender has shown his ability to create opportunities for teammates with his passing, and revealed that he enjoyed the link-up with midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu to develop this.
“We do a lot of movement with Calhanoglu, we exchange places trying to find the hole for a pass to a team-mate, whilst trying to be always balanced and careful.
We try to create spaces and go faster in the middle of the pitch. They were very deep today, so we were in the third quarter of the pitch,” he added.
Acerbi joined Inter from Lazio on loan at the end of the summer transfer window, having worked under Inzaghi at the Aquile.
