Slovakian national team defender Martin Skrtel has shared his belief that it would be best for compatriot Milan Skriniar to stay at Inter amid speculation in the media regarding his future with the Nerazzurri side.
“There are moments in life of every player where things go really well, but there are also moments where things don’t go as planned. When this happens it is important for a player to react. Skriniar is going through something similar to this at Inter.
“In recent games he has lost his role as a starter and there is more and more talk about the fact that he could leave the club. There’s been a poor run of form or maybe the coach prefers other players or he has different intentions tactically. It will be important to see how he will face it and what attitude he will have,” he began an interview with Slovakian news outlet Sport Aktuality, which appeared in today’s print edition.
“He is still young and, since his position has not been compromised so far, he should remain strong and fight for his recovery. Although there is the interest of English and Spanish clubs that do not leave any player indifferent, the best solution for him would be to stay at Inter, where he has built a great name for himself.”
Skrtel, who is perhaps best known for his time with Premier League side Liverpool, then went on to dismiss the idea that Skriniar has struggled to play in Inter manager Antonio Conte’s 3-5-2 system.
“Of course, the attitude of the club and the coach will also be important. However, I don’t think the difficulties of playing in a three-way defense are true.
“After all, he played in the system with three defenders throughout the season and has always been one of the best players on the team. Furthermore, at his age, he still has the ability to easily adapt to any system.”
Skrtel proceeded to admit that the fact the Italian domestic season is over could help Skriniar out in his bid to make it back into the starting XI.
“I know Milan and I think he will fight for his place in the team and return in the new season. Perhaps from his point of view, it is good that the season has already ended in Italy. Now the players will start from scratch and Milan will have the opportunity to convince the coach that he should bet on him at Inter.”
Skrtel concluded the interview by sharing what he thinks Skriniar needs to do in order to get back into the starting line-up of the Nerazzurri side, who he thinks will be challenging for the Serie A title soon.
“Milan must remain calm and work even more in training to convince Conte to put him in the line-up. Nobody doubts his qualities.
“We cannot forget that Inter is a great team. They finished second, but in the future they will certainly fight for first place and I believe they will do that with Milan Skriniar as a starter.”
