Inter Milan coach Simone Inzaghi feels that Nerazzurri captain Lautaro Martinez deserves to be in Ballon D’Or contention.
The coach spoke about the Argentine in a press conference ahead of tomorrow’s match against Champions League group stage Red Bull Salzburg, as reported by FCInterNews. He also confirmed that Alexis Sanchez is ready to play.
Martinez has been in absolutely blazing form at the start of the current season.
The 26-year-old has scored eleven goals so far in Serie A, and twelve in all competitions.
Martinez has been Inter’s top scorer in each of the past two seasons. He certainly looks to be the hot favourite to make it three in a row.
Moreover, Martinez won the World Cup with Argentina last winter.
Therefore, there have been some suggestions that the Inter captain has reached the top of the pile in world football.
The fact that Martinez also wears the armband for the Nerazzurri certainly also helps his cause.
Inter Coach Simone Inzaghi: Lautaro Martinez Should Be In Ballon D’Or Conversation
Of whether Martinez would deserve a shout for the Ballon D’Or, Inter coach Inzaghi replied “Yes. Based on the path that he’s been on, and the trophies he’s won.”
“He has to be there that night,” the coach said of the Ballon D’Or.
“I don’t think he will win but he deserves the recognition. He also did very well in my first two seasons here.”
As far as striker Marcus Thuram, Inzaghi remarked that “I think everyone knows his qualities.”
“It’s normal that you might expect some difficulties when he moves to a new league and country,” he continued.
“But he’s just done very well instead. His teammates have made him feel at home right away, and he’s been giving us a great response.”
“Now he has to keep going like this,” the Inter coach said of Thuram.
And as far as his starting eleven to face Red Bull Salzburg tomorrow, Inzaghi said that “It’s natural that I’ll have some selection doubts when we have one day less to prepare.”
“Yesterday I observed ten players in training who hadn’t played [against Torino],” the coach continued. “The others were still tired.”
“Clearly I’ll make at least some changes, because we have to make squad rotation an added value to counter the fatigue that can start to set in.”
“I have a lot of full internationals who didn’t get to rest much during the break with their travel and matches,” Inzaghi noted. “I’ll have to evaluate.”
Alexis Sanchez Ready To Play
Inzaghi also answered a question about the condition of forward Alexis Sanchez.
“Sanchez is ready, he’s working very well in training.”
“He wasn’t ready [against Torino] because he had just played in two matches during the international break,” the coach continued. “Butt he’s enthusiastic.”
“I don’t know whether he’ll start tomorrow yet,” the coach added of the Chilean.
He noted that “There is a lot of talk about Lautaro and Thura. But Sanchez and Arnautovic are also players we wanted to bring in. And Markoo already showed what he can bring us over the first few matches.”
Of the possibility of rotating the starting eleven in wide areas tomorrow, Inzaghi said that “The wingbacks are the players who the players who expend the most energy, so I try to switch them up often, including during the matches.”
“We’re currently missing Cuadrado,” Inzaghi said. “He is feeling some muscle inflammation that’s kept him out of training.”
Inzaghi noted that “I’m lucky enough to have Darmian who played brilliantly on the right of defense last season. And he can also help give Dumfries a breather in the best way possible.”
The Inter coach also spoke about defender Benjamin Pavard.
“In the home match against Bologna he did very well in that role and fit in well,” he said of the Frenchman.
“He didn’t play as much against Torino. But he was just coming off the back of playing 95 minutes with his national team.”
“With Denzel coming on I had to make a choice. And Darmian hadn’t played the last match with Italy, so he had some extra rest. But I’m extremely happy with [Pavard].”
