APPIANO GENTILE – Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of tomorrow's visit to Udinese, Walter Mazzarri analysed how Inter's season has gone so far.
"We don't have as many points as we perhaps should have. A lot of the points we've dropped are down to our own naivety, but then you get times when things don't go well for you, and there have been a few times when things haven't gone at all well for us.
"We do need to show a bit more guile, like other teams do. However, we're in the process of rebuilding here, starting from scratch. We're investing in youth so it was to be expected.
"Am I worried by the points we've dropped? We're focusing on ourselves, also considering the way last season ended, and this year it's important to see a team with a clear identity and we have that. I'd like us to learn to eliminate the mistakes made from one game to the next and that's what we're working on. Overall I'm very happy that the players have bought into my ideas and are trying to put them into practice.
"There's one thing in particular that I want to stress, as I've told the lads, which is that when we take the lead away from home we can't start celebrating. That's the exact moment when you need to move up a gear because you know there will be a reaction from the other team. You can't afford to drop your guard."
The coach was asked who Inter's first-choice penalty-taker is. "When we get given a penalty, you'll see..." he smiled.
On the sending-off of Fiorentina player Cuadrado and the decisions taken by the football authorities, he stated: "We have institutions responsible for deciding these things. It's not my place to say what's right but just as the times change so too certain rules could be changed."
Mazzarri was then asked about the possibility of Campagnaro going away on international duty: "Let's see. At the moment it's a provisional squad list so he won't necessarily go. If and when things happen I can comment on them.
"I manage my players like a father, with a carrot and stick and an authoritative - not authoritarian - approach based on common sense. But at the end of the day I'm the coach of a football team and it doesn't matter whether a player has been with me for seven years or six months, there are no favouritisms when I pick the team."
Mazzarri was also probed on the transfer market but – as usual – he declined to comment, even when asked whether Thohir's recent statements about Inter needing to sign wide players were the result of a conversation he had had with the coach. "I'm not in direct contact with the majority shareholder. For the time being I share my views with president Moratti and our sporting directors.
"What's it like being the coach at a club where there's a change in ownership? It's not something that happens very often mid-season. Clearly it's not a normal event, so we've done well not to get distracted by it all. We all deserve a bit of credit for that."
The Nerazzurri coach then gave his view on the significance of Diego Milito's absence: "I've always rated Milito very highly because I think when he's at the top of his game he's the best centre forward in Europe, so when I came here I obviously hoped to have him in top shape. I think, without taking anything away from the other players, if we'd had him available we'd have put a few more points on the board."
On when and how he plans to ease Zanetti back into the first team: "I don't think I'll send him to play with the Primavera, but he's not all that far away from his first call-up to the matchday squad."
Finally, what influence have referees had on the points dropped by Inter? "You guys [journalists] try to be as objective as possible and look at the way our games have gone. There was a period when the episodes were going a bit against us. I prefer to look at it like that – they were episodes. And when things aren't going well, the episodes all go against you."
日本語版 Versi Bahasa Indonesia Versione Italiana
LIVE! CONFERENZA MAZZARRI PRE UDINESE-INTER 02/11/2013 H. 11:30 CET
