APPIANO GENTILE – After having made his return from injury against AC Milan, Jonathan explained to Sky Sport Italia what happened to Inter in Sunday’s derby match: "These kinds of games can happen, in my opinion. And there have been times when we’ve played badly against other teams but still won. Unfortunately we weren’t able to do what the coach was asking of us. But we have to forget about the AC Milan game because we still hold our future in our hands. We didn’t play well and didn’t do anything to worry our opponent, but we know we have quality. Last year was worse for us than this one. Now it all depends on us.
"Am I worried we won’t manage to achieve our objectives? Personally, no. I’m relaxed and very confident in this team and the coach. We know we’re not doing anything extraordinary this season but we all know it’s a transition year. We all know that a lot of criticism comes our way after losing to an opponent like AC Milan, but we’re all with this coach. We’re united and want to win."
The Nerazzurri defender preferred not to reveal what Walter Mazzarri said to the team yesterday before continuing: "The things he told us will stay within the group. Obviously he’s still unhappy with the loss, as we all are. We still have a few more days to work hard and now our thoughts are on Lazio, which will be a tough match against a team that has always caused problems for Inter. We have to change our attitude when we’re at home because the fans are with us and support us. That should serve as more motivation for us, and we’re asking them to have a bit more patience when we might have a bad touch or make a poor pass. We know our fans are demanding since this is a great team, so it’s only right. Why do we struggle at home? I really don’t know. We’ve discussed it among ourselves and we just don’t know why it happens. It’s difficult to say."
Regarding whether it’s right or not to continue next season with Mazzarri in charge, Jonathan had no doubts: "Absolutely. I’m 100% sure we have to continue with him. Right now the criticism is clearly aimed at him, and it’s even been written that the players aren’t behind him, which isn’t true. We want to move forward with this coach. There has always been good communication between us. Inter have to trust him next season as well because he’s a coach that instills confidence in his players. He’s prepared and always wants to win, which is why he gets angry when it doesn’t happen. A great team like Inter needs a coach like him."
Why have Inter shown such a lack of consistency this season? Jonathan explained: "In my opinion it’s because the team is young, in the sense that we’ve only been together for a year. It takes time to gain confidence in our way of playing. We have quality footballers, but we have to be more mature and clever when the other teams come here and defend the entire time. Can Inter come close to a Scudetto next season? As Inter players we always have to aim high, and with the team in Europe we’re sure to add some quality players. I’m certain Inter have what it takes to play in Europe and we’ll be able to compete against Juventus, Roma and the others."
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