Live TMW
It’s the eve of the Milan derby: the 240th number in official matches, the one that can be worth a lot.Inter the record for the longest winning streak in the history of the derby. The coach Simone Inzaghi presents the race in a press conference: live text by TMW.
14.10 – The press conference is scheduled to start at 2.30 pm.
2.30pm – Inzaghi’s press conference begins.
You come from a great performance in Manchester. Do you need another performance like that now?
“Absolutely yes, tomorrow we know what kind of match we’re going to face. We all know what the derby represents for us, for our club, for our fans. We’ll need a special Inter, after a match like that in which we spent so much, sometimes you find energy that you didn’t think you had”.
What else is there to prove?
“A lot. The season has just started, we really shouldn’t think about past derbies. It’s fine, I have great memories but they don’t bring points or goals. We’ll need to be very careful, we’ll be facing excellent players”.
Are you expecting an angry Milan? Is there a risk of a full stomach?
“It’s a risk that must not happen, we will find a Milan that played a great match against Venezia and then lost to Liverpool. More than thinking about how they will find Milan, I will think about what we will have to do, a great race of running, of attention. The derbies are like this, they go beyond all predictions: the details are fundamental and we will have to be better than our opponents”.
Do you think you managed the turnover well?
“There are no starters, I have 24 here and soon 25 when Buchanan returns. I have great respect and consideration for all the players, then they, as they are doing daily, have the duty to put me in difficulty with the choices. Today will be the last training session, I have some doubts about the formation to resolve”.
Could this be a decisive push for Milan?
“I’ve talked about this before, I’m trying to focus on our home.”
Everyone gives Inter as the clear favourite, how do you prepare for a derby in this context on a psychological level?
“Whatever happened, happened, we find a team with excellent players trained by an excellent coach who I have already met several times in Rome. We will have to be ready.”
You can set the record for consecutive derby wins. You won them all against Pioli, Fonseca has a similar tactical attitude but Milan is wounded and could be more cautious. The possibility of a more covered Milan?
“Milan have changed in these games, I’m talking about the first 4 of the championship plus the Champions League. I don’t think it’s just Milan, all teams alternate moments in which they are more aggressive and others with less aggression. In my opinion there won’t be an Inter that waits or a Milan that waits. It will be a derby that is very much felt by all parties, we will all have to be good at the details. Let’s not forget that both we and Milan had a midweek game against a top club”.
The derby numbers say that usually the strongest team wins. Do you feel stronger?
“We feel strong against everything and everyone. In the derby, the last ones were positive but I said at the first question that what has been has been. Now we have to look to the present, to tomorrow’s match which will be extremely difficult for us. I heard Fonseca’s press conference, he said he found a team that worked very well. The same goes for me, it will be an open and heartfelt derby, I think it’s fair and we’ll see what happens”.
You build a lot but don’t capitalize, is there a problem of cynicism?
“Yes, the last two games with only one goal probably remain etched in our memory, but we created and we are in line with the first five games of last year. We know that we can always improve, we are working on the conclusion, on the finishing, on the pass, on the assist: these are data to be monitored, trying to work as much as possible”.
Juventus-Napoli and Inter-Milan. Given the longer Champions League, can the championship go a bit in reverse compared to the past and is it more important to win against the small teams?
“I think that as far as the Champions League is concerned there are two more games, but it’s like last year. It’s normal for those who play there to lose some physical and mental energy, preparing for games like that is not very easy, but I think that championships are won in direct clashes. They are very important, then the games against the smaller teams are of great importance, which in this championship seem to be a real nuisance to everyone”.
Is Lautaro in doubt as a starter for tomorrow?
“I have doubts because I have to see today’s training, those who played in Manchester yesterday did less than those who started from the beginning. As for Lautaro there is no case, he is our captain and has played a whole year without stopping. He is working very hard, even yesterday he trained with his teammates: if he is well he will certainly play from the first minute”.
He has played and coached many Rome derbies, and now he knows the Milan derby well. What are the differences?
“They are two fantastic derbies, I think I played fourteen of the Rome derbies and they were great games, with so many emotions. In Milan there were so many, in all the competitions, and here too you can breathe a great air, a great atmosphere”.
Can not having the cups help Napoli?
“I don’t know, it’s a fact that having midweek games saps energy. Last year it happened to Juventus, the year before to Atalanta. But it’s also true that meeting teams of great calibre gives you experience”.
Dumfries starter tomorrow?
“He’s fine, he came on well in the various games. It’s one of the ballots, Darmian had a great game in Manchester and Denzel came on very well. It’s one of the two doubts that I’ll carry with me until tomorrow, every time I have to be able to choose the best player for each game”.
Where is Palacios at?
“He’s fine, he’s working well. He doesn’t speak Italian, he doesn’t speak English, he only speaks Spanish: Correa and Lautaro are helping us a lot, but he’s a boy with excellent prospects who is watching his teammates and trying to learn. He has great technique, he reads the game and in a three-man defense he’s trying to fit in in the best way possible. Watching him work is a pleasure, you can really see that he wants to learn”.
But can he play only as a wing-back or also as a centre-back?
“At the moment, since he’s just arrived, we’re putting him together with Bastoni. I can’t say for the future, but for me he could also play as a centre-back because of his reading of the game.”
Does today’s Inter have more of a sense of belonging than Milan?
“I don’t know what to say for Milan, my players certainly have a very strong sense of belonging, they are linked to each other and to the fans. It’s something more, tomorrow it will be important to show the things we know how to do, knowing that we will find ourselves facing a Milan with great quality and a valuable coach”.
14.48 – Inzaghi’s press conference has concluded.