APPIANO GENTILE – "I'm really sorry about Coutinho's injury because he's a wonderful lad. He was sad because he was playing very well and he's proving his worth to Inter, in the present and for the future." Andrea Stramaccioni hailed the progress of the Brazilian youngster during his press conference ahead of Bologna v Inter.
He added: "His injury comes on top of Sneijder's so we're obviously deprived of two top-quality players, but if a team like Inter depends on two players – no matter how good they are – then something isn't right."
From Coutinho the topic moved on to Alvarez. Stramaccioni explained: "He's in good shape. Getting yourself into a one-on-one position with the goalkeeper twice is a good sign. If he'd scored the first, he would have brought the house down. I'd always want someone like that in my squad. He's an important player and he'll prove it on the pitch."
What about Fredy Guarin's form? "I think he's playing well. Perhaps not as well as he was at the start but you have to remember that a midfielder's game changes a lot with three in front of him and three behind. He can be devastating when he plays as the third midfielder behind a target man, but obviously if the coach asks him to do a different job you might notice him less."Is Inter's squad better equipped for the sort of rotation required to compete on two fronts than other Italian teams? "I don't think it's a question of how many players you change. Right from the start the president and I agreed that Inter need to play in Europe and they need to play like the real Inter. Playing on a Thursday doesn't make it very easy of course, so sometimes you have to make sure you respect the fixture but also think about the league. But we've never fielded a second team, just a good mix. In modern football players know that if they do well in training they give the coach a selection problem."
