APPIANO GENTILE – “I wasn’t in the Serie A for very long before I discovered what a difficult thing it is to play in Parma, as I suffered my first defeat there…” On the eve of Parma v Inter, Andrea Stramaccioni began his press conference discussing this memory of a difficult match soon to be faced again.

The Nerazzurri coach continued: “Everyone is certainly keeping an eye on what Roberto Donadoni is doing. Even though they have lost some important players, Parma have still kept their identity. It’s a difficult away trip but we need to re-find those strengths of ours that allowed us to get near the top of the standings. We have respect for our opponents, but at the same time we’re very focused on our performance.”

Various subjects were discussed during the press conference, including that of Wesley Sneijder following recent statements from Marco Branca: “Obviously I speak with Wes on a daily basis, just as I do with the president. I’m perfectly up to date on the entire situation; Inter, as a club, have decided to lay down certain very clear and precise guidelines that we have observed in my first transfer period here. This idea that the club has must be respected and shared. And then we have to understand the player’s position. Right now you’re looking at the person who perhaps has the highest possible regard for Wesley as a person and a professional, and I’ve shown this. There is nothing ulterior going on here and nothing personal against the player. And then it’s the coach who decides, based on what he sees and feels, not to use a player, for technical reasons, and obviously he hopes for the good of everyone involved for the possibility to sit down and resolve the situation as soon as possible. Having said this, I’m going to Parma with the best players available and I’ve decided not to use Sneijder for this occasion.”

“I think, and I say this with a clear head, that my team have given away a bit too much in recent games,” AndreaStramaccioni admitted the day before Parma v Inter. “I don’t like to complain, I’ve never done that, but it’s crucial that we get Guarin fit because looking at things objectively we’ve got five players out in the same area. I think Fredy will grit his teeth tomorrow. If we want to get something from Parma we can’t afford to give way as much as we did in Bergamo and against Cagliari. Inter are a team that want to win every game and you take that approach into each match with you. In the last two matches Inter haven’t been able to reproduce the things that got us into this league position. As the Cagliari game progressed I wasn’t able to inject the midfield with energy, strength, help from the bench. And I say that without taking anything away from those who played. It’s the truth. It’s simplistic to say that it’s down to whether we played with three up top. The three-man attack is not the discriminating factor. Part of the reason why I’ve been unable to do my bit from the touchline is all the absentees we’ve had in the same area. It’s not so much the number of the injuries we’ve had but the fact that they’ve all been in the same area. That’s where I come in as it’s my job to come up with solutions and enact them on the pitch, but I’ve been lacking a certain type of resource to direct the course of games.”

Stramaccioni was also asked about the ‘calm’ invoked by Marco Branca yesterday. “Marco was referring to the club’s situation with the player. Tomorrow I don’t want to see calm on the pitch… [smiling]. I want to see the same hunger and determination that got us up into second place. I don’t want calm on the pitch, I want calm before and after the game, not during.”

The coach was also asked for his view on tonight’s match between AC Milan and Juventus: “I think this game comes at a time when it’s even more important for us to focus solely on Inter because last Sunday we had a great opportunity and then we drew. Now we must think only about ourselves.”

Source: Inter.it