MILAN – "I'm satisfied. Tonight I put out the players who haven't played much up till now, apart from a couple of regular starters, and it was a good game." Speaking to Rai Sport straight after the match, Claudio Ranieri commented on the Nerazzurri's win over Genoa that earned them a place in the Coppa Italia quarter-finals.
So the impressive series of league wins strung together by Inter under the Roman coach continues in the cup. What's the secret? "There's no secret, the secret's in the players. When you have talented, determined players it makes your job so much easier."
Within the group, Esteban Cambiasso and Javier Zanetti are especially important, as they help the coach out on the pitch: "They've got it in their blood and the more coaches there are on the pitch the happier the coach is [smiling]."
Looking forward, Ranieri stressed that, "We have to keep doing what we're doing now. We have Lazio coming up, a team that have racked up points on the road as well as at home. We must focus on them now. Lots of games close together? Yes, we have to play a lot but without making a meal of it, we just have to get our heads down and work. At the moment all we must think about is doing well, we'll see how things go against Lazio. It was important to get through tonight, the lads did well."
Ranieri was asked about Sneijder: "I wasn't going to sub him but he asked to come off because he was tired. He had to get minutes in his legs and he played very well. He was desperate to get out on the pitch."
Ranieri then hinted at the tantalising prospect of seeing Milito, Pazzini and Sneijder on the pitch together: "It's doable, but only when everyone is fit, otherwise we'd struggle with a three-man midfield."
From the regulars to a newcomer who scored on his return to the team: "Poli had a great game, he worked very hard. He's had to come through a few injuries but I know I can count on him."
And to the critics who complain about the Nerazzurri's game Ranieri replied saying, "I think every coach has his own philosophy and this is mine: when necessary, it's ok to make our opponents play badly and play well ourselves. We won the derby and it's almost as if we should be ashamed of it. I've never been a rigid person; I adapt to situations, I change things depending on the situation. That's the way I am, take it or leave it."
The final topics touched on were the transfer market ("yes, we discuss it among ourselves"), Mauro Zarate ("more consistency would be the best medicine; he just needs a bit more determination to be decisive on a consistent basis") and the Scudetto: "I don't talk about it because I don't want to bring bad luck. We dropped lots of points earlier in the season and now we must take each game as it comes. We're in the Europa League places at the moment and at the end of the season Inter must at least be in the Champions League zone. Now we have to focus on Lazio, an excellent team and in Reja they have a coach who knows how to get the best out of them. I want to see how we cope when we're put under pressure in the games after the derby, because Lazio are going to put us under pressure all right."
