After his team secured a 1-0 away victory over Cagliari in the second round of Serie A, Inter Milan head coach Simone Inzaghi gave an interview to DAZN.

Another victory secured. The first half was completely under your control, but the only drawback is that matches like this need to be "killed off" as early as possible, because in other circumstances the opponent could strike at the worst possible moment...

Yes, we know that. Today we created plenty of chances, but unfortunately we didn't kill the game off earlier. That's partly because we didn't play well enough ourselves, and partly due to stubborn resistance from the opponent and the merit of their goalkeeper, who made several very good, even outstanding saves. However, we also need to be more ruthless and clinical in front of goal.

Sometimes we can easily progress into dangerous areas, while other times we need to go through painstaking tactical work, careful organization, and execute some very important attacking moves. But in the second half we looked somewhat disorganized, losing the tactical positions and distances that should exist between players on the pitch, especially in the last 10-15 minutes.

Obviously, the opponent, with their high intensity and fighting spirit, combined with some complacency and lapses in our own defensive approach, managed to build pressure and create some panic for us. But fortunately, our players were smart enough to quickly assess the situation, understand what was happening on the pitch, and then make targeted defensive adjustments.

Simone, when a team can play like this and create so many chances, as a head coach you can always sleep soundly at night, but setting that aside because there will also be matches where you create just as many chances but win 5-0. But beyond that, Simone, I think it has to do with ball possession management in the second half. You just mentioned your own mistakes. Ball possession management in the second half really wasn't as good as in the first. In the first half you played brilliantly with possession, while in the second half it was a bit worse, failing to effectively control the tempo and maintain steady possession...

That's partly because we became somewhat complacent, satisfied with our excellent ball control and our advantage. In fact, we also created quite a few chances in the second half, so the problem isn't just that. Then we lost our way a bit, the team became fragmented, losing the tactical distance between the three lines. At one point half the team—especially the midfield and forwards—was thinking about one way to play, while the other half was perhaps thinking more about how to defend.

We need to show more confidence and determination in managing possession, because whenever we truly settle down and control the ball, we successfully penetrate the opponent's box and create threats. In the closing stages you need to make appropriate tactical decisions based on the actual state of the team and physical condition on the pitch. That's why we added a defender, with Pavard playing as right wing-back. As a head coach, you need to react to what's happening on the pitch, not blindly try to do something that could harm the team's interests.

In any case, we're still helping players reach their best physical condition. Because the players who went to the World Cup still have some physical reserves to build up, and we don't have time right now to prepare more thoroughly with warm-up matches or extra training sessions. So for many of them—like Marcus Thuram, Lautaro, Calhanoglu, Akanj, Sučić and others—the best way to improve is through real matches, even if sometimes they may temporarily lose some sharpness and sparks of inspiration due to fatigue.

Coach, is this the best Calhanoglu you've seen on the pitch?

Calhanoglu is Calhanoglu. I've been praising him for a long time, and he's already proven it on the pitch with his performances, so I don't need to waste extra words praising him individually. Just like Zielinski, Barella, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Stanković and Sučić, they're all excellent. We have an extremely strong and quality midfield, and each of them has distinctly different technical qualities. Some of them are fully integrated into our tactical philosophy and this team's style, and new players also need to integrate as quickly as possible.

Simone, usually Inter's strength is the left flank, but today—especially in the first half—thanks to Barella, because he really had an incredible match, and we also saw that Luis play with more fighting spirit than last season. The right flank was frequently used today. Was this a tactical choice against the opponent's defensive setup?

Yes, because the opponent was doubling up on the left flank, which was squeezing our space there quite a bit. So, thanks to the interplay between Benjamin Pavard, Barella and Luis on that flank, we found an easier way to combine play and release the ball on the right. We often played behind their defense through Barella, and there was also that cross from Bastoni to him, although it was cleared by the opponent off the line. That's how we needed to play in this match, we figured it out very quickly, and the players were excellent at quickly adjusting and adapting based on the opponent's tactical setup.

Coach, for Inter, what an excellent opportunity it will be to face Napoli, who just suffered a defeat, in the third round, when you already have 6 points on the table?

Compared to last season, we've earned three more points, because last season we lost to Udinese in the second round. We hope not to repeat that same mistake in the third round, because last season we also lost in Turin to Juventus in the third round. We're ready to face such an excellent team as Napoli, a strong opponent who won the league two years ago and finished second last season. We know what kind of competition it will be and how much both teams want to win. However, there's still time before the match, if I'm not mistaken we have about five days to prepare. So let's enjoy today's victory for now, because this win didn't come easy, and as for the Napoli match, we'll see.

Переведено ИИ.

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