APPIANO GENTILE - In an exclusive interview with Sport Mediaset, Jonathan discussed the highs and lows of a season which is still all to play for, with he and Inter still hungry for victories.
"I've always trained hard like all my team-mates," he told Marco Barzaghi. "But I'll remind you of what I said after the Parma match. I felt people had been very harsh, not just on me, but Ricky Alvarez too, who's a brilliant footballer with a lot of ability. It seemed like everything that happened to Inter in a game was my fault, if we drew or lost. The analogy I made was that if rained or snowed, it was down to me."
Jonathan explained all in great detail: "Before the Roma match I hadn't been training right, like I used to. Cambiasso was due to play against Roma but then he got injured and the team needed me. I was surprised, I didn't expect it. Then came that lovely move with Alvarez and Rocchi, that great goal, and then I played well against Parma. But a week before those two matches I hadn't been training well, yet when I was training well, really well, things happened that even I can't explain. I slipped, as did everyone else, but it was all about me. I slipped in the Sampdoria game and people only talked about me. Other players slipped against Cagliari but no one even mentioned it. That's why I've always said it was my fault if it rained or snowed, but the blame should never be placed on one player. We're a squad, a club, we win and lose together.
"In one game we were missing Pereira and Stramaccioni played me on the right which showed that he has faith in me. I can only thank the coach for the trust he's shown in me," added Jonathan, before discussing his aims for the future: "My main aim is to finish this season as strongly as possible and play even better than I did against Roma and Parma. I only want to be where I'm wanted, if Inter want me to stay, then I will. I'm under contract until 2015 and we'll see if the situation suits both parties. I'm waiting to finish the season and then we'll see what happens, if I stay here or go out on loan elsewhere. For now I'm just focused on the end of the season. My team-mates too? I believe everyone here wants to do well in every game, but we're also well aware of the fact that our opponents want to win too. We need to show that we're at Inter because we have the quality and character required to be at big club like this one."
"We've dropped a lot of points along the way, mainly at home, against Siena and Atalanta. We know they were vital points for us, had we taken those six points we'd be in third spot. But we need to look forward, we know there's still a chance of making it, it won't be easy, but with a bit of luck - what we've been missing this season - we can still achieve it."
It won't be easy because the Nerazzurri come up against Palermo on Sunday: "It'll be a battle. They want to get out of trouble and we want to finish third. It will be a very tough match. There are good, experienced players on both sides and I think the team with the best focus will come out on top. We still have today, tomorrow and Saturday to study our opponents, train, and speak to the coach. We want to turn up there and perform."
