MILAN - There are certain images that make the difference for a coach. "The joy of Lucio at the end of the game. Someone with a career like he has, who has won everything, and who celebrates for a victory against the last-place team. It's a sign that mentally Inter are doing well..." Andrea Stramaccioni emphasised the concept in further depth during the post-match press conference. Among other things he stated: "Since you're not asking me I'll tell you: Ranocchia played a great match. And Cambiasso gave us balance and quality in a role that Stankovic is more accustomed to."
Speaking to Mediaset, the Nerazzurri coach pointed out: "It was the most difficult match, the one to get us into contention with the teams vying for third place, and previously we failed to take full points in Florence. And it became even more difficult after Cesena's goal. Do I need to qualify for the Champions League to stay at Inter? The dream was having been chosen. I'll comment on the president's decisions at the end, which is how it should be. Now we'll do well match by match, trying to move forward down this road, always improving a bit each time. In the first half I saw, for example, the best quality of play since I've been here. Pazzini? He was unlucky. He missed a goal by a few centimetres, but in the first half he allowed the team to show great play. The difficulties I'm encountering? I'm a replacement coach. I've been working here for a month. I'm not a magician. I do my part and all the credit always comes down to the lads and the work. The thing we don't like is having let in a goal on a counterattack. It's something we still need to work on. Sneijder? A lot of quality, especially in the first half. A bit of bad luck with his shots, but he gives us unpredictability."
Here are Stramaccioni's comments to Rai Sport: "We suffered against Cesena in the same way that Juventus did. They had Mutu and Iaquinta back to face us in record time. But in the first half I saw the best Inter I've seen since I've been in charge, in terms of play and aesthetic value. With consistency, and not just in fits and starts. For third place we believed before, so why shouldn't we believe now? We have a tough fixture list? To date there is no favourite team. I'll speak for us; the fact of having tough matches over just a few days, like Parma and the derby, certainly doesn't help, but we're still in this. I'm not saying we'll finish in third place; I repeat that we'll do everything we can to get there."
Livio Forma, a reporter with Radio Rai, asked the Inter coach what he told the team at halftime, after having squandered eight clear chances: "I told the lads that they were playing a great game, that they had to believe even more and that they had to be even more concrete in front of the goal. Pazzini? I'd play him again. He was unlucky on a couple of chances but his performance was positive. You can't judge a performance for a question of centimetres. Tonight? I'll watch the late match because we'll face Lazio on the final day, but as soon as tomorrow morning we'll have our thoughts on Parma; statistically they're the most in form team in the league. In this most recent period they've earned as many points as Juventus and ourselves."
