APPIANO GENTILE - Walter Mazzarri held a press conference at the Centro Sportivo Angelo Moratti earlier. He was asked to assess the Nerazzurri's latest performances: "The Torino game was a bit of an anomaly, but was perhaps the only match where we started badly in terms of our approach. We were a bit caught out by some of their movement and that's how the sending off came about.
"Against Roma it seemed to be an almost 'marked' game, as they scored with every counter-attack. It was a strange match to analyse, but we were caught on the break on too many occasions, they were clinical and it all went well for them, including the dubious penalty.
"We were perfect against Cagliari, if we really want to be pernickety, someone should have got out quicker to Nainggolan, but it was the end of the match and these things happen. We were well set up at the back too.
"We
started very well against Verona and we scored twice, and they hadn't
even crossed the halfway line until we went 2-0 up. We were playing well
and the fans were enjoying some nice football, the lads might have
subconsciously thought the game was won and no longer saw any danger: we
need to be switched on and focus for the full 90 minutes. We took a
blow with their first goal, two players attacked the forward to try and
win the ball back and we naively left space in behind. Then we went 4-1
up and we started to think ahead to Tuesday's match, we made mistakes
that could have cost us dearly. That's where we need to improve and what
we need to work on, but I think the lads have got that."
Mazzarri then discussed why he opted out of the post-match interviews following the Torino
match: "I've been in this job for a number of years, I know this world
very well. The reason I chose not to speak after Torino was to try and
keep a calm environment even though I saw things that had made me angry.
Everyone has their own interests to defend, some people have criticised
me, but in hindsight I think my decision not to speak was the right
one."
What's the latest on Alvarez, Kovacic and Icardi? "Based on
what I'm thinking now, if Kovacic plays, Alvarez could play as he did
against Verona, otherwise he'll play in a different position. Icardi's
not fit, he's got a problem and he needs to manage that, he can't train
at 100%. Given our emergency up front though, he might be able to play a
small portion of the game. I try to figure out the system best suited
to our needs, based on the squad I have available. We need to be
balanced, forward-thinking and not concede too many goals. If we play
like we did in the last match with Guarin as an attacking midfielder and
Alvarez, if you put someone else in the middle who's not a ball winner,
you can no longer play. I prefer to have certain attributes in the
final third or on the flanks, so Kovacic couldn't replace Cambiasso in
the middle."
Mazzarri was asked about what influence the new
majority shareholder could have on the coaching staff's work: "Time will
tell. When there's a change you can't comment on it until you start
working. You'll need to ask him yourself, I can't say what I might think
about it. At this time I think members of the Inter family have to be
happy with what's happening on the pitch, young players progressing
alongside more experienced campaigners, I think any owner should be
happy with what we're doing."
Finally, here's how the Nerazzurri coach
responded to those pointing to the differing statistics with Campagnaro
in and out of the team: "When I was picking Campagnaro, it was because I
thought he was on better form than the others. I've not seen the other
guys make mistakes, Rolando in this case, but it depends if you consider
bad luck - like Nainggolan's deflected shot - as mistakes. I look at
the unit as a whole and at individual players and, from this point of
view, I've not seen any great difference with or without Hugo. Football
is not an exact science, I need to look forward. If a player is missing,
I need to pick someone else, I can't just cry about it. But, I'll say
it again: I haven't noticed that one player's gone out of the team and
things have gone badly. We've conceded some goals in certain ways, but
that's not because a particular player is missing."
