Antonio Conte has warned his Inter players not to underestimate tomorrow’s opponents Udinese.
The Nerazzurri head into Saturday’s match at the Dacia Arena three points behind Serie A leaders AC Milan, who they will face next week in the Coppa Italia quarter-finals.
Conte’s side have won 10 of their last 12 games in all competitions but the former Chelsea boss does not expect an easy ride against the Bianconeri.
“You should never face anyone superficially in Serie A, especially Udinese,” Conte told reporters during this afternoon’s pre-match press conference, which was held at Inter’s training ground.
“Udinese are a physical team, with their own identity and they are well structured.
“They have good players who have quality and they are strong on the counterattack.
“This match is not one to be underestimated and we must be prepared, as I think we are, in the best possible way.
“It will be a tough match from all points of view.
“We also saw against Atalanta on Wednesday that they can create problems for anyone.”
Conte was asked what stage his side are at and whether he thinks his side were perfect in last Sunday’s Derby d’Italia win over Juventus.
“When you beat strong teams like Juventus you must have played an excellent game, making very few mistakes.
“We were good at exploiting their weaknesses, being very careful and not making mistakes of our own.
“It was a match that gave us three points and made us understand that we are on the right path, even though we know that there is a long way to go and we have to work even more.
“These are games that need to give us even more enthusiasm to work even harder than before.”
Next Conte addressed the importance of being able to follow up the win against Juve and whether both Inter and AC Milan have caught up with the Old Lady, who have reigned supreme in Italy for almost a decade.
“Inter, given their history and tradition, must try to get the most out of every match.
“Tomorrow we start again, there are three points up for grabs against an excellent team.
“We must play in the same way as in the match against Juventus.”
“Have we caught up? I have always said that I think seven teams are in contention for the title and UEFA Champions League places.
“The first round of matches has confirmed this.”
Conte then remained tight-lipped over his team selection when asked whether there may be changes seeing as Inter play tomorrow and then again on Tuesday.
“We must think exclusively about Udinese.
“We know the importance of the league because it gives you a chance to win a trophy but also qualify for the Champions League.
“This is why it takes priority over everything.
“Tomorrow we will face Udinese with the right concentration, we will see the rest later.”
The ex-Chelsea coach, who has been at the helm for 18 months, was then asked whether the fact no strikers have scored in the last three league games proves anything about the team.
“I think this is a very consolidated situation in my teams, where not only attackers score.
“I think that last year too we were one of the teams that scored with the highest number of players.
“We also attack with midfielders and defenders, although it is inevitable that the attackers are the main source of goals and for them there are more opportunities but everyone is involved, we attack with all departments.”
Conte proceeded to insist that success depends on the growth of players from multiple aspects.
“We have certainly started a journey, I’ve always said this.
“For a year and a half, improvements have been made in every respect.
“Not only on the pitch but also in facing matches in the right way.
“We started this path that must lead to the growth of all players because when you want to achieve important goals this passes through the growth of everyone on a technical, tactical and mental level.
“The boys know how to take steps forward, some do it faster and some slower, but everything passes from improving the players individually.
“I think that in a year and a half we have made progress, sometimes they are tangible and things cannot be seen from the outside, but I have the pulse of the situation and I see that even the setbacks sometimes serve to help us understand that if we want to stay high the margin for error is minimal.
“We must not be satisfied with daily success, which is temporary.
“We have to think about lasting success and that it can lead to something important at the end of the season.”
The 51-year-old tactician was then asked about Alexis Sanchez’s condition and whether playing so little has hurt him but he was quick to point out that he played a lot recently.
“Alexis played for 120 minutes against Fiorentina…”
Conte was then asked whether the journey he is on at Inter reminds him at all of what he did on a motivational level during his first year at Juventus, where he led them to Serie A title glory.
“I don’t like to make comparisons with what happened before.
“Every situation must be faced in the right way and you can’t have a cliché that is always the same.
“It is inevitable that growth also comes from conviction.
“There is a way of being able to convince players and that is with work, which must then bring results, because when they don’t arrive it is questioned.
“Surely, however, there is everything in the work of a coach, even at the psychological level, but the players know very well that I speak to them with my heart in my hand.
“I don’t sell smoke, they know what I really think.”
In conclusion he was asked if Juve’s triumph in the Supercoppa against Napoli on Wednesday helped put Inter’s win last weekend over Andrea Pirlo’s side into greater perspective.
“We don’t care if our merits or the adversary’s shortcomings are celebrated or not.
“We know that we played an important game from many points of view.
“Juventus have had absences in other games and they had always played well regardless.
“It was a great game that we could not have won against a team like that without playing well.
“Everything is fine, the evaluation to be made is ours.
“We won with merit, it is right to make comments and everyone to make their own consideration but we must go on with our way of thinking.”