MILAN – Walter Mazzarri spoke to Sky Italia after getting off to a winning start in Serie A with Inter. This is what the coach had to say:
"We must remember that these lads had gone four and a half months without winning at home, and there were lots of defeats in there too... We needed to shake off this fear that we'd concede on the first counter-attack. I expected Genoa to sit back and wait for us. The players just needed a bit of belief. Kovacic couldn't last the whole match and that's why I brought him on later, the same goes for Icardi. It went the way we thought it would: we only gave away a couple of chances. The team are starting to find their balance.
"Our first goal was down to the wide players? They both did well today and that was good to see. When your right winger crosses to the far post for your left winger to score it means the players are following you. And that's despite the fact that we missed out on a few days' work while on tour.
"Alvarez and Guarin? We're still getting to know each other. They did lots of things differently to what I wanted. When we win the ball back we have to set off with it straight away. Guarin changed after the break - that's when we did the things we should have done before but it's ok for now.
"Eto'o? I don't talk about the transfer market. I'm happy to be coaching this team but it's up to other people at the club to talk about transfers. I just use the players I have at my disposal.
"Icardi played much better today than he did against Cittadella and that was good to see. I'm happy if I see us getting forward in numbers and not getting hit on the counter. The players have to feel they're strong defensively, that's why a clean sheet was so important for us.
"How are we looking compared to our rivals? I know what Milan and Juventus were like last year and they've strengthened further, but I'm only thinking about my own team and we deserved to win today. It was a tricky game but we managed to get ourselves in front and we played some good football too. We could even have added a goal or two.
"I want to thank the fans for making themselves heard from the very first minute. I didn't expect to hear them chanting so loud. It was great."
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