PRESS CONFERENCE | Coach Ranieri’s words
“The boys played a splendid game. It was a difficult match, we knew that, but we never got demoralised and we recovered the result twice. We were good and compact. I’m happy for the team and for our fans: even today there were 1,500 of them supporting us, we heard them on the pitch and at the end only they could be heard inside the ‘Meazza’. I thank them”: coach Ranieri spoke to the media at the end of the draw against Inter. These are his words:
A PRECIOUS POINT
“We put hay in the hay, this point is worth gold. We faced Atalanta and Inter one after the other: there was the risk of scoring zero points, four came. I told the boys again tonight to fight, create chances, sometimes even an episode can be enough. I think the team played with motivation, rationality, kept the ball when they had to, pushed when they could. I protested about the corner that resulted in the 2-1 penalty, it’s a pity because it wasn’t a corner, but that’s how it went. Shomurodov? He is fighting a lot, he sacrifices himself for the team, I am happy for him and for us that we get this result”.
CHANGES
“I feel sorry for Jankto, he is an excellent player, he was playing well, but I needed another midfielder, because the two centre-backs Sulemana and Makoumbou were working too hard. By inserting Prati, a playmaker, they were able to divide the field into three instead of two. Jankto was attacking the flank, but he wasn’t closing well, we were dancing too much and I ran for cover. Viola’s entrance? He has a monstrous intelligence, on and off the pitch. Of course, he can also be fielded from the start. But when he comes in he always does the right things, so why make him tired when the others are fresh? I bring him in at the right time because I know he can solve the game. On the last occasion he looked more for impact, there it would have been enough to place it left or right. Maybe he also arrived a bit tired. Of course, three points would have been golden, but it’s okay, go ahead”.
TEAMWORK
“The work of everyone, of every single element, is important. Of the team, the technical staff, the medical staff, everyone works at a thousand per hour. Of the lads I can say that even those who don’t start, those who play less and have to work harder than the others, everyone knows how to be ready. Today we had Dossena on caution; Mina trains sparingly, but he felt like playing and so I thought I’d field him while keeping Dossena at rest. Next to Mina I put two quick guys like Obert and Hatzidiakos”.
GROUP STRENGTH
“Whether we play four or five, my strength is my players, they never give up. I shuffle the cards during the week, so no one knows if they will play from the start, but everyone knows what they will have to do. I trust everyone, I need everyone. The guys respect me, they believe in me, they work hard. They’ve learned that the important thing is to always give everything for the team, for the people of Isola, who came here today to support us”.
UNITED TOWARDS THE GOAL
“We still have to fight, the ship is not in port yet, we haven’t done anything. We’ll have to play against another big team, now comes Juve: it will be another very difficult match. They wait for you, they restart on the counter-attack. They have players who know how to jump over the man: we’ll have to play another great match to do it. And our fans will be with us, we won’t play alone”.
