MILAN – Roberto Mancini cut a contented figure as he spoke to the press this evening after Inter secured a rousing 1-0 over Atalanta at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.
"I’m happy for Jovetic and for all the lads. Apart from the initial ten-minute settling-in period, we played well and deserved the win. It wasn’t easy because Atalanta are a well-organised team that defends well with all their men in their own half," began Mancini.
"I was impressed by my players’ attitude, their desire not to give anything away and the belief they showed right until the end. Matches last 95 minutes and we deserved to win. We had 70% of the possession and 21 shots on goal. There are going to be lots of matches like this one and we’ll need to perform well and score earlier on, but at the start of the season it’s normal to have some difficulties. We’ll improve with every match," continued the Nerazzurri coach.
Asked about Inter’s poor summer form, Mancini replied: "Pre-season results count for nothing. The friendlies help to improve your physical condition, to analyse phases of play and make sure you’re ready for the first competitive match. I never like losing, not even in training, but after two weeks on the other side of the world playing against top-quality sides, there was always a chance that there were going to be some negative results."
Mancini then spoke about Frenchman Geoffrey Kondogbia: "He’s a young lad and will in all probability become an excellent player, but he’ll need time to settle in and develop. He suffered in pre-season because he’s not used to such a workload.
"I’m happy with the way we defended tonight – we didn’t give much away. I think Brozovic was our best player, unfortunately we’re short and I was forced to keep him on even when he’d asked to be substituted," explained Mancini.
One of the talking points of the evening was Mauro Icardi’s premature withdrawal from proceedings, having picked up an early injury: "I was wrong to play Icardi. It’s my fault because we knew it was a risk to send him out there and we had to use a substitution straight away. Santon had a good match but he can always do better. He needs to be more offensive."
Last but not least, Mancini was asked whether there would be any more transfer business done this summer: "Numerically, we’re very short up front. I don’t think Icardi will be available on Sunday, so with him out we only have Jovetic, Palacio and Manaj. We’re short in midfield too, so we’ll see what happens."
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MANCINI SODDISFATTO DELLA PRESTAZIONE
