APPIANO GENTILE - "Our target hasn't changed, we want to be back in the Champions League. This is something we said at the start of the season, then for a while we were near the top and obviously you start to aim higher, but our main goal is to qualify for the Champions League." This is what Andrea Stramaccioni had to say when asked about his team's goals for the second half of the season, which begins with Inter v Pescara tomorrow.
"I hope to continue my progression as a coach and, despite the slip-ups, I strongly believe that the Inter we saw in August are a world away from today's team. Yes, we've dropped points, and that's disappointing, but even in Udine, until we went down to ten men, I felt we had the mentality on the road that we'd lacked in other games. Now we need to get back to winning ways. We definitely lacked something in front of goal - be it in terms of desire or a bit of luck - against Lazio, Genoa and Udinese, but that's part of the game. We need to rediscover that cutting edge in front of goal, that's what we need to work on. We've missed too many chances but I don't think that's only the forwards' fault, we've also been inconsistent in the amount of chances we've created. I'm not happy with 35 points of course, now we need to let our results do the talking."
The coach stated that "after a few bad games, Bergodi found the right balance and he's doing a great job. They're an organised team with quick players and the coach has set them up to cause problems for their opponents. Weiss and Celik play behind a lone frontman and when they break they can cause problems for anyone. You don't go and win against Catania and Fiorentina if you're not a good team, but we need to play our game because sides that come to the San Siro try and park the bus and we're working a lot on that."
Stramaccioni was then asked what he made of Massimo Moratti's comments on the referee at Udine which, according to the press, completely contradicted what he had said: "Only part of what I said was quoted, although seeing it in real time it was a penalty and Palacio said he was knocked off balance, so it's a penalty. I agree that Giannoccaro officiated the game well, but I saw the penalty decision differently. Either way, fair play to Udinese, something I acknowledged straight after the match. If, however, you ask me about that incident, I maintain that it was a penalty but there were no other mistakes and the president is right."
