MILAN - Walter Mazzarri spoke to the press after winning his first derby with Inter.
The coach began: "Yes, I celebrated when we scored but then I almost regretted it because there was still a bit left to play - I think I must have had a flashback to Inter v Juve... [smiling]. You can never let your guard down in this game. We've thrown away too many points by letting our concentration slip after taking the lead and it would have been a shame to do that again today.
"The penalty on Palacio? We may as well forget about penalties completely... Everyone saw it today - it was as clear as you like. We're still not getting any luck there.
"We did miss Alvarez and what he brings us in the middle of the park. We were too tense in the first half, and they were chasing us down well too. Then in the second half we played the way we know how to. We shook ourselves up in the dressing room during the break and in the end we played a great game. It looked like it was going to be another of those days when the ball just doesn't want to go in. We couldn't quite finish off our moves."
Asked about the transfer market, Mazzarri stressed: "I won't talk about reinforcements, I only talk to the club about things like that and they know what I think. We have dropped a few points because of our ingenuity and our mistakes but if we think about where we started we can only be satisfied.
"In a team still under construction like ours, which started the season superbly but hasn't picked up many points in recent games, the lads did feel the pressure a bit. At Napoli we got caught out by three counter-attacks, maybe because we were good in possession but left too many gaps through the middle. That's why I was sorry we didn't have Alvarez as a reference point. We knew Milan couldn't keep pressing like that the whole game and in the second half they tired. In the meantime I'd brought on dynamic players like Kovacic, who did brilliantly when he came on today. Kuzmanovic and Icardi also gave me what I was looking for. If I must find a fault, we took too long to stick the ball away..."
Probed for more on Mateo Kovacic, Mazzarri went on: "Today I explained to him that if he wants to play in central midfield or in the hole that's fine but in any case he has to put in the defensive work as well. He showed great maturity out there tonight. He occasionally tried to take on a man too many but he really did play very well. He did what I asked him to do. If he could play like he did today all the time, he could do some great things for this team."
Finally, there was a question about Fredy Guarin: "Have we already sold Guarin? Who to? That's something you need to ask the club. Besides, the transfer window isn't even open yet. We'll take stock of things after this game. Could Lavezzi join if Guarin leaves? I don't like playing along with these games. Guarin is improving a lot and he's had a great season so far."
Versión Española 日本語版 Versi Bahasa Indonesia Versione Italiana
