APPIANO GENTILE – Roberto Mancini insists Inter must quickly move on from last Sunday's derby success and focus on continuing their good start with another win against one of Serie A's form sides Chievo.
The coach began his media conference today by answering questions about recent changes at the club. "I wanted to thank Fassone for all the support he gave me, just as the president, Bolingbroke and Ausilio have supported me. Now we need to concentate on tomorrow's game. We have to focus on our football and on the team. I have my own job to do, which is to get the players ready for tomorrow's match."
We may only be three games into the season but Chievo v Inter is nonetheless a top-of-the-table clash and Mancini is under no illusions as to the difficulties posed by this fixture: "It would be great if we could win tomorrow because, like with our derby victory, it creates less stressful conditions for you to work in. It's never easy to go to Chievo's place and it will be even tougher this time around because they've got off to a flying start.
"I think it will take at least ten games before the league table starts to take shape and then we'll see who's able to challenge for which positions. Teams like Juventus and AC Milan are quite capable of stringing together a run of wins."
The boss went on to discuss his possible line-up for tomorrow, with a number of players having picked up knocks in the derby and during the international break.
"I prefer to have the 'problem' of too many players. Even if we change a few things we shouldn't have too much difficulty because they all understand how we play. I'll pick the team tomorrow morning because I still have a few selection doubts.
"We have to see if we can get Jesus and Miranda fit. Miranda has been training well but we need to assess whether it's worth risking him. As for Brazil calling him up for international duty, I think it would have been appropriate to ask us for our opinion first. Ranocchia could start and we'll have to make a decision on Jesus over the coming hours too."
Mancini was then asked about what formation he might play and in particular who could operate in the hole. "Perisic played there last weekend because he'd only just arrived and there was little time to try out new ideas. He can play behind the strikers or wide in attack. He's very good at adapting to different situations.
"Going forward I see Brozovic as more of a central midfielder rather than playing in the hole.
"Kondogbia could be devastating playing a bit further forward but he's very young and needs to keep growing."
The final question was on the stadium: "Speaking as an Italian, I think it would be good if all our clubs owned their stadiums. In other countries club-owned stadiums are an added value."
