Inter coach Simone Inzaghi feels that his team’s performance against Monza this evening was not a bad one despite the massively disappointing damaging result.
Speaking to Italian broadcaster Sky Sport Italia, via FCInterNews, the coach defended his team and their performance, suggesting Monza goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio was the best player on the pitch and that this accounted for the team yet again being able to find the back of the net.
Whilst Inter had managed to score two goals on Tuesday against Benfica, their return to Serie A heralded a return to their woes in front of goal.
It has now been four matches in the league in which Inzaghi’s men have scored just one goal.
The team had also been unable to break through from open play against Salernitana last month, needing a penalty to score in what turned out to be a loss anyway.
This awful attacking form is at the root of what has become a full-blown crisis in the league for the Nerazzurri, putting their hopes of finishing in the top four in the league title in massive jeopardy.
Given the scope of the barren spell that Inter’s strikers, and the entire team, are currently going through, there cannot be just one explanation for why they are unable to break through in league matches at the moment.
However, for his part Inzaghi has chosen to put the emphasis on the goalkeeping performances of the teams they’ve been up against.
Last Friday, it was Salernitana shotstopper Guillermo Ochoa who managed to keep the Nerazzurri at bay for much of the ninety minutes after conceding early on to a Robin Gosens effort.
This time it was former Nerazzurri youth academy graduate Michele Di Gregorio who acquitted himself well in his first ever match against his old team at the San Siro.
From Inzaghi’s perspective, it’s not a coincidence that the team are struggling to score when the opposing keepers are in such excellent form.
“In the last three games in the league, we’ve created more and better chances than in the Champions League and the Coppa Italia,” Inzaghi said.
“The results are harsh on us, every time we have to talk about it amongst ourselves,” he continued.
The coach hit out that “It’s no coincidence that every time the goalkeeper opponent is the best player on the pitch, we need points but they aren’t coming.”
“In the second half we weren’t able to be as clearheaded, and we moved the ball more slowly,” Inzaghi lamented.
“The team played a good first half in which they deserved to lead,” the coach argued.
“Then we started to get nervous and some gaps started to appear, we conceded a couple counterattacks.”
“This match is like a carbon copy of the others we’ve played, we’re not playing at the right pace in the league,” he continued.
“We’re disappointed and angry, but it’s not at all true that we’re only focused on the cup competitions,” Inzaghi defended his team, “we knew how important this match was, now we’re talking about a bad result that slows down the process for us.”
“Since the return of the league [from the winter break] we haven’t been playing at our level, for sixteen months we’ve had the best attack in the league, and now we’re not managing to be at that level.”
“The team is proactive and creates chances, but we need to have more determination as a team,” the coach suggested.
“However, we’re still just two points behind Milan in the league.”
Asked if some of the inconsistency between the Nerazzurri’s performances in the league and in cup competitions could be attributable to the way that the squad is put together, Inzaghi replied that “We’re constructed to do well in all competitions.”
“We’re still in the running for the Coppa Italia and the Champions League, it’s not true that there’s no motivation in the league,” he stressed.
“I’m very disappointed at how things are going in the league, but based on the last three matches, I’m fairly satisfied with what the team have put in to it,” Inzaghi defended his players.
