APPIANO GENTILE – "I think, and I say this with a clear head, that my team have given away a bit too much in recent games," Andrea Stramaccioni admitted the day before Parma v Inter. "I don't like to complain, I've never done that, but it's crucial that we get Guarin fit because looking at things objectively we've got five players out in the same area. I think Fredy will grit his teeth tomorrow. If we want to get something from Parma we can't afford to give way as much as we did in Bergamo and against Cagliari. Inter are a team that want to win every game and you take that approach into each match with you. In the last two matches Inter haven't been able to reproduce the things that got us into this league position. As the Cagliari game progressed I wasn't able to inject the midfield with energy, strength, help from the bench. And I say that without taking anything away from those who played. It's the truth. It's simplistic to say that it's down to whether we played with three up top. The three-man attack is not the discriminating factor. Part of the reason why I've been unable to do my bit from the touchline is all the absentees we've had in the same area. It's not so much the number of the injuries we've had but the fact that they've all been in the same area. That's where I come in as it's my job to come up with solutions and enact them on the pitch, but I've been lacking a certain type of resource to direct the course of games."
Stramaccioni was also asked about the 'calm' invoked by Marco Branca yesterday. "Marco was referring to the club's situation with the player. Tomorrow I don't want to see calm on the pitch... [smiling]. I want to see the same hunger and determination that got us up into second place. I don't want calm on the pitch, I want calm before and after the game, not during."
The coach was also asked for his view on tonight's match between AC Milan and Juventus: "I think this game comes at a time when it's even more important for us to focus solely on Inter because last Sunday we had a great opportunity and then we drew. Now we must think only about ourselves."
