APPIANO GENTILE – Samir Handanovic, along with Roma keeper Morgan De Sanctis, has conceded the fewest goals in Serie A so far this term, having picked the ball out of the net just once in the first four league fixtures.
During an interview with Sky Sport Italia, the Nerazzurri shotstopper explained that he places little importance on provisional records because "if you talk about it, the next time it can all go wrong and then the situation looks very different. We just hope to keep going as we are.
"How far have we come? I can't answer that. I only know that we're improving. We're just a few games into the season but the main thing is that we're thinking as a team. It's still the beginning so it means nothing at the moment. I think we'll learn a lot from this sequence of three games. Like if Inter can challenge for the Scudetto? I don't know. It's a long season. We have to concentrate on the now, on tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, Friday..."
So what's changed compared to the past? Handanovic insists that it's far more than just the work of the defence and the keeper: "It's the team. If I have fewer shots to deal with it's down to all the players and the coach. We're more convinced now too. Just Mazzarri being good at his job or because everyone is pulling their weight more? It's a bit of everything but I think you get that conviction first and foremost from the coach. I wouldn't add anything else."
On Inter's lack of European football: "To be honest I think a year like this was needed. It's useful to start over and build from scratch. This year our aim is to earn our place in Europe again."
The big Slovene was also questioned about negotiations going on at club level and if it has distracted the team or brought it closer together. "A footballer doesn't think about things like that when he steps onto the pitch. It hasn't destabilized us as people said."
Finally, Handanovic was asked to give his take on the racism issue: "There's always been racism, though it doesn't really concern me: I don't listen to what they're singing anyway. Will I get a tattoo if we win the title? No, I don't like tattoos."
