MILAN - Andrea Stramaccioni’s eyes expressed that same determination that Javier Zanetti spoke about after the match. Speaking to Sky Sport Italia he commented on the 2-2 draw with Vaslui, making a comparison with the first home game of the Europa League that Inter played against Hajduk Split.
"I think they were two different matches; against Hajduk we had really taken the wrong approach and the opponents created opportunities. Today Inter didn’t play thirty sparkling minutes as we have in other matches, but we hit the crossbar and cut out other clear chances. Then of course the penalty changed everything, but I choose to see the glass half full because over sixty minutes we showed something important. We showed we didn’t want to simply content ourselves and that we wanted to qualify at all costs."
The Nerazzurri coach continued: "And then from a tactical point of view the red card changed the match, but we never lost our ability to counter. Vaslui never seemed dangerous to me, while we never lost our strength to hit them on the break."
Stramaccioni spoke on how a player like Fredy Guarin can change a game on his own: "With all due respect for my ‘toro’ I don’t think he changed the game on his own. In the first half I had put together a midfield with players that I had asked for sacrifice from, like Nagatomo and Zanetti. Guarin is definitely an important midfielder, but I think that with him Inter found balance above all."
In Croatia against Hajduk, away to Pescara and in Romania against Vaslui, "none of the three victories we earned were won on the counterattack. One of the problems we had today was that we almost never managed to beat our opponents on the dribble. We need to keep in mind that going down to ten men also changed the tactics of the match, and I think that paradoxically Vaslui packed it in at the back when Inter had a numerical inferiority," explained Stramaccioni.
There was no finger pointing at Luca Castellazzi by the Inter coach: "He was convinced he would take the ball when he made the challenge, and Antal did a good job. Right now I’m not interested in making judgements on individuals. We can say that it was a collective error since those are distractions that you pay for. I can see that without the ball we’re much more secure than we were before. I can also see a lot of desire and fighting spirit, and that goes for the fans as well. I think the right spirit is there to turn the page."
After commenting on how tonight's match might have an effect on this weekend's Serie A clash with Roma ("I'll tell you on Sunday at 11 pm"), Stramaccioni smiled when shown images of president Moratti celebrating in the stands after Guarin's equaliser. He quipped: "So the president is tired too. Joking aside, this is a good moment for us, we're all close together, we're very determined but we have to keep improving. We know it's not all going to be downhill. We have a massive game on Sunday - not decisive but very important."
