Inter coach Antonio Conte spoke to gathered reporters in a press conference earlier today, ahead of tomorrow’s Serie A clash against Torino. His words were noted by Italian media outlet FcInterNews.

First, he spoke about the condition of the squad.

“Three players positive with Covid-19 currently, the rest apart from Pinamonti are all available. There are those who featured prominently with their national teams and others who played less.”

The 51-year-old Italian touched on what he expects from his players tomorrow and their schedule in the run up to Christmas.

“The situation is difficult but not only for Inter. For those who face European competitions the difficulty rises because you play challenging matches, but the whole situation is difficult. Since the beginning of the year.

“It will be tough until Christmas and even after, we know it very well. We will have to try to face the situation in the best possible way hoping that the good luck will appear a bit between injuries and positive cases.”

Conte spoke about Christian Eriksen’s potential failure to adapt to living in Italy and if he can play in other positions.

“I don’t know his level of Italian. I always say that I make the choices for the good of Inter. I think Christian has had many chances, he has played more than many others.

“When I consider it appropriate, I will choose him in the starting eleven or in the current game. Otherwise I will make other decisions.”

The former Juventus and Chelsea coach commented on how the squad still need to improve, despite being one of the most competitive in Serie A.

“I think we have to work. We know our strengths and weaknesses, something that you can’t understand on the outside. For the rest we have to think about ourselves. I always hope that there will be intellectual honesty from everyone, especially from those who have to make judgments.

“We can also be proud of this because to be considered more competitive even against teams that have been dominant Italy is miraculous.”

He touched on how tight the league table is currently and if that will continue throughout the season.

“I hope that the balance will remain until the end. The closer the fight for the Scudetto and Champions League spots, the more work, organization and strong mentality will be required.

“In the past years there has never been balance.”

Conte spoke about how Inter have been dominant in the statistics, but struggled to translate that to wins.

“They are stats that testify to what I have always said, that the team has collected less than it deserved. They are statistics that we know, as well as those in the defensive phase. We allow very few shots on goal but there is a high percentage of goals when they do shoot on goal.

“These are positive numbers, we must be better at being more effective in the final third. We concede much less than last year and the years before, but at the moment when they shoot they score.”

The former Italy coach spoke about what things Inter can do to still improve.

“If you are referring to the results, I agree that they were not satisfactory. Surely, we could have done better.

“For what we are doing on the field I hope that we will see the same things again and that we will be good at bringing home a positive result because in the end even if you dominate the games and create chances but draw or lose you see a glass half empty.

“We must try to get a result because this changes the judgements, the moods.”

Conte touched on how teams in Europe will be playing 10 games now in the run up to Christmas, and if that busier schedule is why Inter, Atalanta and Juventus are a little behind in the league table.

“I don’t know if there is a reason. Us and Atalanta finished very late, we were the last ones in Italy to finish. There wasn’t much time to rest and get ready. We had to put the players in official matches and not in training and friendly matches.

“I think this is a factor not to be overlooked especially in my teams where organization prevails over improvisation. For the rest there is and there will be a lot of balance.

“Many teams have strengthened quietly and this is positive because it makes the league more attractive. In every match there is a lot of work for everyone.”

Finally, Conte did not think that Christian Eriksen could play a role similar to that of Andrea Pirlo in his Juventus squad.

“In my opinion, absolutely not. It’s a role that would penalize the player too much. Christian has an important position, he has a strong left and right foot.

“If you take the best position away from him, and put him in front of the defense, you totally distort him.

“This is a technical judgment, then it is inevitable that others may make other judgments but I think that the coach’s judgment is more important than others.”